Mai Otome Remix
by kismet00
Summary: Find out what happens when you add bad Mayonnaise, Kuga Natsuki, and a giant metal wolf into the Mai Otome Universe. -The story companion to The Kruger Chronicles-
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter One: Markers, Mayonnaise and Maki Maki (ver 2.0)**

Natsuki's hand hovered over the door, a sudden wave of hesitation halting her movements. What was this feeling? Excitement? Natsuki tilted her head. Anxiety? No, that wasn't it either. Fear? She paused at the last thought. Fear? Was it fear? It couldn't be.

Today was a good day. It _would_ be a very good day.

The sun's rays dipped with calming, drowsy, warmth. The pink sakura petals danced in the gentle breeze. Even the songbirds were twittering away their silly love melodies. It was an idyllic spring day. Nothing could possibly go wrong on a day like this.

No, it couldn't be fear.

Natsuki shook the thought out of her head and knocked aggressively against the door, nearly hitting Shizuru in the face when the former student council president finally opened it.

"Ara, what a pleasant surprise." Shizuru said with a genuine smile. "Did Natsuki miss Shizuru so quickly?"

Natsuki smiled back, trying sheepishly to rub the nervousness out of the back of her neck. "Hello, Shizuru. Can I come in?"

"Of course."

Even though Natsuki could begin to feel the panic bubbling up, it really was good to see Shizuru again. Despite the older girl's threats of staying back a year, she had moved to the local university in the area, and from the look of half-opened boxes in the room, she still had a bit of unpacking to do.

"It looks like Natsuki has something to say to me."

"Uh, yeah," Natsuki said gruffly. "Here."

Natsuki held out a piece of paper to Shizuru.

"What is this?" Shizuru asked.

"Well," Natsuki began, "I've been thinking about several things." She paused, realizing she hadn't actually thought through the execution of her plan. "I think it would be the best for the both of us to look at the relationship from a different angle. You know, like some formal ground rules for our behavior."

"So, a contract of sorts?" Shizuru lifted an eyebrow.

"Right, something like that."

"Ara, Natsuki is thinking of such things for our future." Shizuru gave a warm smile. "I shall look forward to reading it."

Shizuru took the paper from her hands and began to read, leaving Natsuki to wait for a response.

Over the years, Natsuki had come to notice the more subtle moods of the former president that others would miss. It might have been a small curve of the lips or the subtle darkening of the eyes, a raised eyebrow, or maybe just a slight tensing of the face, but today was different. Her poker face was perfect. No matter how much Natsuki stared; she only saw the calm mask of ease that blocked any outsiders from knowing her true feelings.

It was unnerving and dangerous. All Natsuki could do was wait in antagonizing silence as Shizuru read the contract several times over, her eyes flicking over the neatly typed and numbered rules.

Natsuki coughed. "There's also something on the back."

Shizuru flipped the page over.

The document so far had been carefully calculated and worded. Printed on thick resume paper and likely spot-checked by Yukino, the document resonated with professionalism. However, all of this contrasted dramatically against the single line scrawled in pencil that read: "I, Kuga Natsuki, will not run away."

It was a line that made Shizuru's heart skip a beat.

Shizuru held her impassive, gently smiling expression, with nary a twitch in sight.

"Natsuki," She began, letting the word roll seductively over her tongue, "It appears that Natsuki gets many more points than Shizuru does. This can't possibly be fair."

Despite the hairs rising on the back of her neck, Natsuki couldn't help but let the words slip out, her mouth moving much faster than her brain.

"Life _isn't_ fair. Just sign it."

Shiziru contemplated it for a moment, with an ever calm smile on her face. "Hmm, if it is what dear Natsuki wants, Shizuru will sign _it_."

"_Yes,"_ Natsuki stressed the syllable, "Natsuki wants Shizuru to sign it."

Impulsively, Natsuki offered a sharpie pen to Shizuru, letting her dreams of safety get the best of her.

Shizuru's smile turned into a more dangerous, sinister one, as she took the pen and motioned forward to sign the paper. However, not a single drop of ink appeared on the paper for Shizuru went straight for Natsuki's face instead.

The cold sensation of ink drying on skin. The distinctive fumes that screamed of permanent-ness.

"What is this?" Natsuki said, with a dead pan expression, as she felt the felt-tip marker swirling counterclockwise on her left cheek.

"Punishment."

* * *

ch 1

* * *

It was a duel.

A battle to end all battles.

It was a marker fight with permanent ink.

And Shizuru had fired the opening shot: a spiral on Natsuki's left cheek.

Natsuki jumped backwards, whipping out her spare sharpie. She had prepared for the eventuality that Shizuru would simply steal the pen, but she had not considered the possibility that she would start a marker fight.

It was also not on the contract.

The two circled each other, wolf and snake, looking for weaknesses. Both wielded the markers as if it were more a knife than a harmless pen, with arms loosely held out in front so as to counter any attacks and be able to quickly jab if the opportunity presented itself.

Now that both were on the offensive, they were quite even. After the surprise attack, Shizuru hadn't managed to get any more marks on Natsuki, nor could Natsuki land a mark on Shizuru.

A tense silence took up the room that was further highlighted by the sound of irritated breathing. Shizuru took this opportunity to discuss matters further. She cleared her throat, and began to read verbatim from the contract.

"Rule number 34: Shizuru must not ever bring negi, leeks, spring onions, or any other sort of insidious vegetables near Natsuki. Ever."

Natsuki frowned, warily taking another counter-step to face Shizuru directly. "And, what exactly is so wrong with that?"

Shizuru's mischievous smile returned, "Ara, but what about when Natsuki gets feverishly sick? It would be terribly lonely for Shizuru, if you were to die from fever." She pouted making Natsuki involuntarily wince. Shizuru smirked at that and continued: "And, well, you must admit that it was _fun _wasn't it?"

Natsuki felt a vein pop in her temple while her face took on an unnaturally red hue. The two took another step counter clockwise, looking for further weaknesses.

Shizuru kept on grinning like a Cheshire cat at the unnaturally long pause.

"No it wasn't. I just--NO," Kuga defended herself, "I was sick, and everyone was THERE. Don't bring up traumatizing memories!"

"Hmm, but I thought Natsuki was rather cute when—"

"Stop, just shut up about that!"

Without any warning, Natsuki dashed forward with the marker in hand aiming for Shizuru's upper arm.

Shizuru blocked the attack with her own pen, and they found themselves merely a step away from one another, sharpies in deadlock. The plastic casings of the pens rattled in an absurd manner.

"Come on, there's nothing wrong with the contract. Just sign it!" Natsuki said, getting more annoyed by the moment at her inability to make a mark on the other woman.

"Ara, but I don't really feel like it."

"And why not?" Natsuki gritted through her teeth.

Shizuru pulled dangerously closer to Natsuki's face, so close that Natsuki could feel the other woman's warm breath tickle her face.

"Because," Shizuru said smoothly, despite feeling the strain in her arm from the prolonged battle, "Then I can't do things like this."

Shizuru kissed Natsuki quickly on the lips before the other girl could pull away.

Sputtering, and another shade of red darker, Natsuki took another step back. "I—I'm still mad at you!"

"Are you really?" Shizuru smiled at her.

Irritated enough and as bright as a Christmas bulb, Natsuki couldn't take it anymore. Her leg swept out, catching the taller girl's ankle, and then pushed forward. They both fell, with Natsuki landing on top. She scrambled to pin down Shizuru's arms with her knees.

With the breath knocked out of her, Shizuru looked up at Natsuki in surprise. It took her a moment for her brain to catch up to the situation. "Now, what exactly does Natsuki have in mind?" Shizuru looked quizzically into those triumphant emerald eyes.

Natsuki grinned, bringing her sharpie closer to Shizuru's face. "Nothing much," Natsuki replied in a sinister tone, before frantically writing upon Shizuru's forehead in thick, hurried, movements.

Shizuru being both somewhat intrigued and annoyed by this position sighed.

"How easily I am tricked. Natsuki is being so mean today too."

To prevent Natsuki from completing the decorative border that Shizuru could feel was being drawn around her forehead, Shizuru bent her elbows, for there was thankfully enough leeway to do so, to tickle Natsuki's sides.

The girl immediately stopped her drawing, and started bursting out in peals of uncontrollable laughter.

"Ha, Hahaha that's no fair—" Natsuki protested, her pen dropped, as she tried to protect her sides from the attack. "No--HaHa--fair."

Such a weak spot for a girl to have. With Natsuki properly distracted, Shizuru them rolled over, with her landing on top this time, and then continued tickling Natsuki.

"And as you ask, I shall sign, since my dear Natsuki asked so many times."

Before Natsuki could react to prevent the coming attack, Shizuru began to write on Natsuki's forehead with frightening speed and accuracy. When it was done, Shizuru could not help but continue to tickle Natsuki.

The poor girl just couldn't take the torment anymore.

"Stop! Truce! " Natsuki got out in between involuntary laughter. Finally realizing what it would take to make it stop, Natsuki yelled: "CONTRACT VOID!"

Oh, that last one got Shizuru's attention. Shizuru gave Natsuki another smile before letting her up.

Composing herself, Natsuki still couldn't help but snicker at the sight of Fujino.

"Ara, what exactly did you write?"

"Well, what did you write?"

Shizuru smiled devilishly at her.

Almost at once, they bounded toward the small bathroom laughing along the way—that is, laugh they did until they finally got a look in the mirror.

Silence overtook the room as they gazed in horror at their reflection.

"Ah…." Both of them said in unison.

* * *

ch 1

* * *

After hearing the apartment door slam, Shizuru, pondered upon whether she had teased Natsuki a little too far this time.

Well, maybe just a little too much.

It was worth it though. Today was fun. Her heart was still fluttering out of control, racing like it always did after playing with Natsuki. _Her _Natsuki.

Shizuru couldn't help but smile. Even though Natsuki had brought over that silly document filled with wanton recollections of all the times she had deeply embarrassed the girl, it still spoke volumes by just existing. Natsuki was trying to guard herself, but still, she still wanted this to work. She wanted them to work, and Shizuru couldn't be happier.

_Because Natsuki wasn't going to run away._

Fun and revelations. It was a good mix. Though, it would have been better if Natsuki had brought water-soluble markers. Shizuru gingerly touched her forehead. It wouldn't do walking about the school in this manner. It would definitely give off the wrong impression. The words on her forehead might have helped to deter any more fangirl clubs from forming, but on the other hand, it might just attract the wrong crowd.

Well, it was better to be safe than sorry. Resisting the urge to perform any new social experiments at her own expense, Shizuru walked toward the half-opened boxes placed in the corner of the room.

Shizuru frowned upon the clutter. That too would be dealt with in time, but there were more important things to take care of. After a few minutes of rummaging through the boxes, she managed to take out a set of white headbands that had been left over from spirit week.

Perfect.

Dusting off the headband, Shizuru tied it around her forehead and nodded in satisfaction. One problem was taken care of at least.

Her other problem was that Natsuki would be angry for a while too.

Natsuki being angry wasn't necessarily the issue. Observing a grumpy Natsuki was an amusing experience in itself. Shizuru loved that part of her, all of those parts. Anger, embarrassment, joy, her emotions were displayed to the world, as clear as could be, despite the distance she put between herself and others in order to shield herself.

Watching her was intoxicating.

There was so much emotion, raw and undistilled, that others simply failed to see.

An angry Natsuki was not the problem. An angry Natsuki that was mad at _her_ just would not do.

Shizuru would help cheer her up.

A very simple way to do this would be to tone down her actions for a week or so. Natsuki would be pleased that Shizuru had listened, happy that perhaps she had won out on her argument, but then again that was no fun. After all, who needed stifling change when simple bribery would work?

Now, what to bribe her with?

Natsuki's favorite things besides Shizuru were dogs, motorcycles, and mayonnaise.

Unfortunately, Natsuki's apartment was far too small for a dog, and she already had a favorite motorcycle, so all that was left was mayonnaise.

Yes, she would fix things with mayonnaise.

This was a simple misunderstanding, surely, (though it would be a misunderstanding visible in the mirror each day), and in exchange a simple gift should patch things up. Mayonnaise was, after all, just eggs and oil beaten into submission until it emulsified. Shizuru thought that that in itself was rather poetic.

But, any old store bought would mayonnaise not be sufficient. Shizuru knew that the other girl kept stashes of the stuff hidden in the apartment, even if there was no other food left in the girl's fridge.

She would have to make it by hand.

It was just her luck that she had all of the ingredients too: salad oil, eggs, white miso, lemons and salt. Bringing all of the ingredients together, Shizuru found a whisk and a large bowl before sitting down. This would take a while to make, but it would be quite worth the effort.

After a few attempts at breaking eggs, she put them in along with the lemon juice, and then slowly began adding the oil. Stirring round and round with the whisk, Shizuru could not help but say: "Maki Maki."

She stopped for a moment, her head tilted in thought.

"Now where did I hear that from before?"

* * *

ch 1

* * *

"STOP LAUGHING!" Natsuki yelled into the headset.

"But I, But I. --" The tinny voice from the speaker started laughing uncontrollably, "I—I CAN'T BREATHE!" she managed to make out.

"Idiot!"

Natsuki hung up the phone.

The permanent marker, Mai had assured her, would not come off for a full week.

Natsuki was mortified. She would either have to live like a hermit for the rest of the week, skipping her extra classes and be forced to repeat a year, or suck it up and become the laughing stock of the school.

Well, would it really be that bad repeating a year?

A knock on the door interrupted her internal debate. Natsuki sighed, it was probably her again. She just wasn't in the mood.

"Go away."

"But I come bearing gifts!" A muffled voice floated from the doorway.

"Beware of gifts from Greeks."

"Hmmph, at the very least I know you didn't skip that history lecture, and I'm not Greek." Natsuki could feel Shizuru pouting from outside the door. "Come on, let me in. Please? Pretty please? I can tell you that what I have is one of Natsuki's favorites."

"Please?"

Natsuki's eyebrow started to twitch. If she didn't open the door Shizuru wouldn't give up. She huffed in frustration, and got up to open the door.

"What is it?"

Shizuru smiled at her, a white head-band covering the word written on her forehead. "As I said, I come bearing gifts."

Shizuru held out a similar white headband and a jar of yellowish substance.

"The headband is so Natsuki can go to school without too much embarrassment."

"So I can show my fighting spirit, huh?" Natsuki picked up the headband halfheartedly. Shizuru might get away with such a display, but Natsuki couldn't.

"And this is, mayonnaise, lovingly made by me!"

Natsuki eyed the jar of her favorite condiment and felt her resentments buckling by the second.

"Come on in then."

Sure Natsuki was still upset, but who on earth could resist home-made mayonnaise?

* * *

ch 1

* * *

What had started as a simple peace offering would create severe and unknown consequences in exactly another 5 hours 42 minutes and 24 seconds.

It was not particularly the mayonnaise's fault.

Like everything else in the world, every effect stemmed from a multitude of causes.

For example one could blame the poor cute bacteria that had been living in the raw eggs.

Or how Natsuki had absent mindedly threw the mayonnaise on the counter to protect her lips when Shizuru tried to steal a kiss.

Or perhaps it was the very fact that someone was bored enough in the 18th century to try and mix eggs and oil for a very long time.

Regardless of the reasons why, the Salmonella multiplied easily on the counter, no doubt, helped by the warm spring time weather.

* * *

ch 1

* * *

Time passed.

Mayonnaise was mixed with instant ramen.

And then things were not good.

* * *

ch 1

* * *

Kuga Natsuki wasn't quite sure what she had done to deserve this hell.

Revenge, this must be revenge wasn't it? Or was it Karma?

Oh, Natsuki was sure that Shizuru hadn't intentionally done it. After all, Natsuki had only forgotten that Shizuru couldn't cook. But how the hell could she possibly turn away mayonnaise?

Another wave of nausea sent Natsuki running to her bathroom, and she found herself staring at the toilet bowl. Feeling hot, sweaty, and nauseous, Natsuki wished that her body would make up its mind about the contents of her stomach. There couldn't possibly be anything left to throw up could there?

Natsuki sat down on the tile, and waited out for her body to calm down. Sitting was a bit better. She was a bit dizzy at any rate, and wait, was that a slight ringing in her ears? Natsuki shook her head.

She supposed that it would be best to call someone up to help her.

But…

Well, she didn't want to let anyone else to see her like this.

And, they might bring negi again.

Natsuki found herself staring into space, before two thudding footsteps made her look up. Shock couldn't quite reach her muddled brain. There was someone there, but the footsteps had come from the distinct area where Kuga knew was supposed to be a good solid wall, filled with plaster and concrete.

_Was she hallucinating?_

A somewhat imposing figure towered over Natsuki as she curled up around the toilet for dear life, fighting yet another wave of nausea. If it was not for her trying to puke out her guts from the comfort of her own bathroom, she could have swore she had seen this exact same scene from some place.

Deciding to let her finish, the man in question stared down at her with small reflective sunglasses. He had a bald head with dark complexion and an equally dark trench coat to match. Seeing that Natsuki finally caught her breath from all of the dry retching, he held out his hands in front of him and slowly opened them with dramatic flair.

It was all strangely familiar. Too familiar.

In his hands were a red and a blue pill.

"Greetings," The voice was a deep rumbling baritone, which oddly enough reminded her of a domesticated Lion, "My name is Mor—"

"Bu-Bu-BLUE!" Kuga blurted out, suddenly remembering from memory. "Blue, fucking, Blue!"

Natsuki leapt out and grabbed the blue pill out of the startled man's hand, fighting another wave of nausea as she greedily dry swallowed the pill.

"Oh. Oh really? But, I didn't even get to explain what the colors meant yet." He frowned. "You ruined my part you know."

The man let out a "humph" and zipped away as soon as he came. Presumably down the toilet if her eyes were to be believed, but just to make sure, she gave it another flush.

_Whoosh._

The world warped again, and Kuga let out a sigh of relief. The blue pill meant she would go back to her own reality: of clutching the toilet bowl, and hopefully not waking up unconscious on the bathroom floor. She would never hear the end of it, if Shizuru had found her there, or Mai, or anyone else for that matter.

Content with her decision, and her nausea curiously sated for the moment, Natsuki waited for the world to warp back to her familiar surroundings. She wanted to wake up after all.

However, her surroundings didn't cooperate with her. Instead, she felt her cheeks flush with even more fever, as the room got substantially darker. An unsettling feeling reached the pit of her already unsettled stomach when she realized that there wasn't much here at all, except for the pink elephants in the room.

"Oi, Duran, why the hell are you here?"

Duran, who had all the reasons in the world to be where he was, merely scratched his head in embarrassment with his hind paw.

"And," Natsuki continued, "why the hell is Kiyohime here too?"

A serpentine tongue flicked out in greeting.

Natsuki could not help but think that there was something spectacularly wrong, like perhaps she was now dying from food poisoning, or rather just poisoning in general.

She could see her epitaph now:

_Kuga Natsuki, had to repeat a year, died from eating mayonnaise. Fujino Shizuru dances on grave._

* * *

_**PuriPuri Puri Bang!**_

* * *

Juliet Nao Zheng looked over her companion and held her grin at bay. Kruger definitely lacked the street smarts that Nao had gained during her leadership of the Stripes. Without Nao, Kruger would have undoubtedly been captured from the get go, but still, she liked the woman, respected her even.

Who else could pay attention to all of the boring politics that kept Earl relatively peaceful?

And maybe that's why she was enjoying this so much. Well, that, and the fact that the woman was so easy to tease.

"Are we really doing this?" Kruger asked.

Oh, so more encouragement was needed. Nao looked at her.

"Aren't we going to see that President who wears glasses? Even though we've crossed the border, it's still pretty far to the capital of Ealis." Nao paused. "Don't tell me, you don't have any confidence?"

"Shut up! If I get serious, getting a car or two won't be a problem." The Gakuenchou's face contorted into an angry pout.

"Then why don't you prove it to me?" Nao spoke, letting the challenge hang in the air.

With a huff, Kruger threw her overcoat over her shoulder, and stiffly stuck out her thumb.

Nao stopped herself from laughing. Oh, this was, _wow_, the Gakuenchou was hopeless. Didn't that Viola woman teach her anything? Nao looked at Kruger with appraising eyes. At this rate, they would be stuck in this desert forever.

"You think that's enough for them to stop? Your pose should be sexier." Nao demonstrated her technique, perfected with years of practice.

"Why would I do something that embarrassing?" Kruger's eye twitched.

Oh, yes that Gaukuenchou was totally hopeless. She would need some help. Kruger's guard was wide open too and Nao just couldn't stop herself.

Her nail file came out, the one that she kept surprisingly sharp at all times, and just like that, the belt was cut in two like a hot knife through butter.

"Yaaaa!" screamed Kruger dropping to her knees.

Nao smirked, as she saw the truck approaching closer, but something was wrong. In her peripheral vision she saw _green sparks_?

Frowning, Nao could only stare in shock as the Gakuenchou vanished before her very eyes. Kruger was disappearing, body fading into nothingness as the surreal green fireflies winked out in the daylight.

What was going on? The Gakuenchou had no master but Fumi-Shinso herself. Did someone destroy the Fumi-system?

As Nao thought of all the insane possibilities of what could have caused the demise of the Gakuenchou, a darker thought came into mind.

"Oh, crap." Nao spoke aloud. Viola was going to kill her.

* * *

ch 1

* * *

The green sparkles wavered in and out of existence, skipping along the air currents in the afternoon sun. Normally, they would have long ago disappeared into the ether, waiting to be reborn again, but they were being called. They were being drawn.

They were being summoned.

Slowly, slowly, for the journey had been long and the wind especially strong, the green sparkles drew themselves together at the center of an enormous incense spiral. Situated around the spiral were three slumbering students. Had the girls been awake to see it, it would have been a grand show, powerful, emotional, and most important: it would have been shiny.

The green sparks swirled mesmerizingly around and around the spiral, twirling like a wayward emerald encrusted twister. The sun hit its zenith, and then…

Kuga Natsuki appeared.

She landed on her ass, and before she had time to consider that, she smelt her clothes burning. Rolling as fast as she could, she fell off of the giant burning incense spiral before she let it set her school uniform on fire.

"Shit."

Natsuki patted out the smoldering cinders on her shoulder.

The person who had just materialized from shiny, magical, green particles was quite disoriented.

It wasn't just the appearing out of thin air, or the fact that she had landed on a giant incense spiral, or the knowledge that Munakata Shiho and two other unknown girls were dressed in odd maid uniforms and were sleeping around the spiral. It was something quite different from all of that.

She was forgetting something.

Just a moment ago Kuga had been playing a game of maid with Duran and Kiyohime (and had been losing quite horribly), but it felt like she was missing something. It was as if she had been told the secret of life, a truth so vitally important that was at the least very relevant to her situation. However, when she tried to recall what exactly it was, all her mind could do was draw up a complete blank.

But then again how does a squid-snake hold cards anyway? Or a metal wolf for that matter?

It must have been a hallucination. No, she took that back. She was still hallucinating.

Her thought was further validated by the sight of flies with faces. The horrific apparitions were diminutive and yet larger than what any normal house fly should rightfully be. Where a fly would naturally have the familiar multifaceted eyes and proboscis, was instead the face of a child.

It was weird and bad and gross. Natsuki was sure that she was probably twitching on her bathroom floor, in her last death spasms.

Despite the horrific hallucination, it was not enough for them to simply exist. The three mutated flies moved steadily toward her face. Natsuki leapt back from the predatory flies and felt her stomach lurch in an unpleasant manner. As much as she could handle, Natsuki tried avoiding the flies and swatted them away several times, but time after time they kept on approaching her left cheek. Was there something left on her cheek that would attract the flies? But then again, since when did hallucinations ever make sense?

After a few minutes of running about, Natsuki was finally overcome by a wave of light-headedness that forced her to sit down. In her moment of weakness the flies landed on her face. Natsuki heard a triumphant but faint burp and the odd "Maki Maki" reaching her ears.

_Leave me alone already._

In irritation, Natsuki smacked her left cheek, but before she could either feel proud that she had stopped the flies, or disgusted that there was bug guts on her face, three shrill screams pierced the air.

The sleeping girls snapped up simultaneously, and panted in fear, not noticing Natsuki at first.

"Shiho, we should stop this. I've been getting bad dreams," said unknown girl #1.

Natsuki looked at her right hand in curiosity. There was nothing there, not a mark or scratch, or trace of any bug innards. How odd. Natsuki's cheek still stung though.

"Yes, we should stop this!" said unknown girl #2.

"How can you stop? You can't just stop now." Shiho growled as her hair started to move impossibly by its own free will. "We're so close I can feel it!"

"Um, Shiho…" unknown girl #1 tried to point out Natsuki.

Noticing what the first girl was pointing at, unknown girl #2 felt her jaw drop.

"You two have no passion. That's why it isn't working!"

"Shiho…" unknown girl #2 whispered.

"Don't interrupt!"

"But, just look behind you." Unknown girl #1 continued to point in Natsuki's direction.

"Look behind me? Why there's nothing behind me but trees." Munakata turned, "See there's noth—"

Shiho stopped in mid sentence.

Natsuki wasn't feeling very well at this point, and this irritability made her next statement drip with menace. "Greetings Munakata, I would ask you why you're wearing that ridiculous outfit, but this is all just a figment of my imagination, after all."

Shiho was speechless, though she did wonder who this Munakata person was, and why the Gakuenchou was wearing such strange garb.

"Shiho we should stop, really, I mean, we cursed the Gakuenchou!" unknown girl #1 said.

"Gakuenchou, why are you wearing that headband?" unknown girl #2 blurted out.

"If you're referring to me, I'm just feeling very spirited." Natsuki felt her eyes narrow. "Don't ask me about it."

"Oh." Unknown girl #2 muttered, "Oh… right that and those weird clothes. Gakuenchou, must be, um what do you call it, sneaking, uh, in-cog-ni-to."

Natsuki looked curiously at them all. Why on earth are these people calling her Gakuenchou? True, she had been held back a year due to the coma, but she was still a student all the same. Natsuki racked her brain trying to think of any situations that would have merited such an odd nickname.

Nothing came to mind.

"See how it worked? And to think that you people doubted me. It brought the Gakuenchou all the way back to campus, didn't it" Shiho declared.

The two girls nodded in acknowledgement.

Shiho rubbed her chin and squinted at Natsuki, "Being incognito is clever, but aren't you a little too old to pass for a student?"

Natsuki clenched her jaw"Am not!" Natsuki growled. Why were her figments of her imagination so rude to her too?

"But besides that," Shiho looking away from the death gaze, "Gakuenchou, the Bewitching Amethyst has been taken captive."

"A gem?" Natsuki asked.

Shiho's face scrunched up in slight confusion before clarifying, "Well the gems are offline, as you should probably know."

"And ever since that Nagi took over, things have just been falling apart!" Unknown girl #1 piped up.

Natsuki laughed. _Everything_ that Nagi touched would fall apart.

Oh, Natsuki could play along at this game. "So basically you just want me to take the Bewitching Amethyst that has been locked in that tower? And it's really important right?"

"Ga-Gakuenchou, are you sure that headband is just for spirit?" Unknown girl #2 asked, "I mean, uh have you hit your head, to ask such odd questions…"

Natsuki looked at the girl quizzically.

Shiho ignored the previous statement, "But you do have a plan don't you?"

"Sure, I do" Natsuki calmly replied.

This hallucination was strange, but if it allowed her to torment Nagi by stealing some sort of weird gem, then by all means she would do it. With a determined gaze, Natsuki summoned her pistols.

"But the gems are offline, how did she—"

Natsuki ignored the comment, and instead focused on the cool feel of metal gracing her finger tips, as she drew her arms around herself and called out to her child.

"DURAN!"

Huge shards of ice erupted from the ground, growing impossibly huge, and inconceivably from nothing.

"A materialization!"

An icy gust invaded the forest; the unusually cool and pure air chilled them to the bones. As the girls looked on in shock, the shards hung there for a split second, an improbable manifestation of ice in spring, before it shattered—the tiny broken shards glittering like diamonds in the afternoon sun.

What it revealed left their jaws hanging open.

"A giant wolf…" the three girls whispered.

* * *

ch 1

* * *

Natsuki had to admit that Duran in this hallucination was rather impressive. He was large. No, more like impossibly huge; he was as big as he had been when she had fought Shizuru at their last showdown—perhaps even a little bigger than that.

This wasn't what she had been aiming for.

"Duran why are you so damn enormous?" Natsuki muttered to herself.

The dark mountain god, the great beast Yufasa, also known as Duran, or more commonly known as "puppy" by his master when no one was looking, cringed.

Duran tried to communicate in the least threatening manner possible.

"WOOOF"

The girls cowered behind Natsuki, making Duran whine. Well that didn't work quite so well. He was not used to being so large. He could not help it, after all.

Natsuki frowned. Well, so much for stealth.

Oh, to hell with it anyway. If she was more imaginative in her hallucinations, she could probably just fly or something.

"Duran, could you let me up?"

The giant wolf lowered himself and his head, so Natsuki could climb onto his snout.

"Are you girls coming?" Natsuki looked behind her.

The girls were frozen in spot.

"But… But how did?"

"Look, I don't feel like telling my life story right now. So are you coming or are you not?"

Shock still in their systems, the girls climbed on top of the giant metal beast, and settled at the far end of Duran's head.

Natsuki took a seat on the top of Duran's snout and then they bounded off into the distance, ready to steal the bewitching amethyst.

* * *

ch 1

* * *

Trees snapping like twigs, and students running away in abject horror from the sight of the giant wolf, all Natsuki could think about was the fact that she was getting motion sickness. She hoped they would find that building soon.

"There," Shiho said excitedly, "They just moved her to that room a while ago."

Odd how people personified inanimate objects, but Natsuki didn't question it.

"Over there you say?" She looked squinting at yet another European style building.

"Duran, get closer."

The huge wolf obliged, and positioned his snout just inches away from the room in question.

Natsuki looked through the barred window.

She couldn't believe what she saw.

_Gem my ass._

Natsuki's face turned bright red, but out of embarrassment or out of anger she wasn't quite sure.

On the bed in a fumble were two naked bodies that had hands in places were no hands should go, doing things that normal people wouldn't do, and oddly enough there was a pacifier involved?

And then when she saw exactly who was doing things to what, Natsuki's blood boiled.

* * *

ch 1

* * *

Shizuru was a pervert.

It was something that she had decided long ago; not only because of the girl's unnatural libido, of course, but also for the unnerving way her hands would roam in the most inappropriate situations. People _were_ afraid to buy lingerie with her for good reason.

It was true. She had accepted that fact long ago. Shizuru may be a pervert, but she was _her_ pervert.

And now _her_ pervert was doing perverted things to some, to some _other_ girl!

It was unforgiveable.

But then again this was a hallucination wasn't it? That Shizuru would go that far with other people.

Shizuru was a cheater, or rather the hallucination of Shizuru was a cheater.

Weird mental images, or subconscious messages, or whatever it was it, all of it didn't matter in either case.

Natsuki was still pissed off.

Traveling further down Duran's head, Natsuki waved at the girls to move.

"Get back." Kuga muttered at the other girls.

"But what did you see?"

"Back." Natsuki growled.

The girls quickly scampered further back and then tentatively dropped down onto Duran's back. They had never seen the Gakuenchou in such a scary mood before.

Duran had to admit that being so large did have its advantages. For example, all that it took to break into a heavily fortified building was a little push.

And so he pushed.

Duran nudged forward against the stone wall with his snout. The room exploded from the sudden impact, sending stone bits ricocheting into the other walls. The occupants inside were left intentionally unharmed. Duran was not so careless in his actions.

Withdrawing so that his master could get a better view, the occupants soon found red glowing eyes peering at them, followed by the more dangerous emerald set.

"SHI-ZU-RU" Natsuki gritted out of her teeth.

"Ara, it appears that Tomoe lied about your imprisonment. " The bewitching amethyst said smoothly without a single guilty twinge.

_This was infuriating. Maddening. She wanted to-- to--._

"DU-DURAN" Natsuki's eye's blazed in anger, "DO SOMETHING!"

* * *

ch 1

* * *

"--DO SOMETHING!"

Duran, as much as a giant metal wolf could, tried to sigh. He had tried to get it through his master's head that she needn't actually yell out her attacks. It was enough to mentally send a command. He had also tried to convey the idea that it was, in fact, very bad tactics to scream out attacks like some juvenile sentai show. But well, some things just couldn't be helped. After all, Duran could only growl, bark and whine. He had once tried to devise an intricate tapping scheme, but she never caught on, thinking instead that he was trying to kill some cockroach that had been at her feet.

Well, he was much too large for any of that now anyway.

As always, Natsuki was blunt and in this case his master was truly at a loss for what to do.

Seeing no better alternative, Duran ignored the green-haired interloper and simply grabbed the bewitching amethyst with his front canines. He gently threw her across his back to land near Natsuki. As an afterthought, the wolf picked up some clothes that had been knocked free from the now broken wardrobe and flung them on top of the naked woman.

Duran withdrew, giving one last intimidating stare at that green-haired woman, before taking a leap backwards into the courtyard.

"This—This is all your fault Shizuru!" Feeble fingers tried to strangle the bewitching amethyst. "The mayonnaise was bad! And you, -- you!" Natsuki yelled, not quite sure of what exactly she wanted to say, and seeing the beguiling amethyst looking terribly confused, Natsuki stopped.

"Oh crap, you're just a hallucination anyway."

Glancing backward, Duran studied the odd doppelganger. The woman smelled like the key, but it wasn't quite right. Similar but different. This one was more refined, more calm, and still strong to be sure, but not quite as dangerous.

Duran paused. That might be a welcome change.

"Uh, Gakuenchou, what about…" unknown girl #1 trailed off trying not to look at the naked column, and the incoherent Gakuenchou. "Uh, you know shouldn't you save the other students too?"

Natsuki ignored her.

"Who was that other girl?" Kuga spat.

"…Tomoe Marguerite."

Duran positioned himself in the direction of the demolished room. Yes, she should do that all the time. Sending her commands mentally! Duran knew exactly what his master was getting at.

"I see." Natsuki flipped her hair away in irritation. "DURAN, LOAD SILVER CARTRIDGE!"

The girls had a very bad feeling about this, especially when they saw the very large bullets being loaded into Duran's very large guns.

Nastsuki motioned her arms forward.

"FIRE!"

Faster than they could blink, a storm of sharp and pointy shards of ice materialized and hurtled toward the poor building. The icy projectiles ripped through solid stone, steel and wood and tore it all to shreds as easily as a grater cuts through cheese. The girls blinked. Before they could comment on the destruction, the remnants of the building exploded in a very satisfying way.

Natsuki let out a deep breath. That was silly, overkill really, but now she felt much better. As crazy and insane as this hallucination was, at the very least, the physics in this world still held true. Natsuki could still smash things up as much as her heart desired.

Nodding to herself, Natsuki felt the rage and jealousy recede just a bit. She was little more relieved, a little more relaxed. But then again, there was a game to play as well, and she was sure that after playing it she would feel terrific. She was sure that she would feel almost as good as if she hadn't seen that terrible act in the first place. Natsuki laughed. Oh, Nagi would suffer, even if this world was just all in her head. With a newfound purpose, Natsuki turned to face the girls with a slightly feverish grin on her face.

"Now, shall we go and save the _other _students then?" Natsuki asked.

* * *

End of Chapter

* * *

**Author's Note (ver 2.0):** This was my first MaiHime/MaiOtome fic and also my first attempt at a humorous story. As you might have noticed, I've revised this chapter. Nothing in the plot has been changed, but I basically cut down awkward sections and filled out others that seemed to have left readers confused. Comments and suggestions are always welcome because they motivate me to write and improve on what I have written.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2: Underground, Overhead, and Falling from the Sky **

The soldier squinted in the dimly lit room, twisting the knobs back and forth in vain before checking the plug again.

"Old piece of crap…" The man slammed his hand down on the old squat box. The plastic protested against the assault. No response. Frowning, the man attacked the box again using both his fists this time, and bashed against the casing three times in rapid succession.

Knowing better, the evil little brown box finally gave in. Light flared from the projector, and within this stream of light, the occupants of the room noticed the filaments of dust that continually circulated in the air.

It was rather disgusting really.

"Any time now…" The duke of Artai muttered in a bored tone.

"Uh, wait. Wait just a second." The soldier ran up to the front of the room and unrolled a white screen from the center of the room. Taking out the archaic controller from his back pocket, the man tapped the single button on the remote.

'_Click'_

Nothing happened.

"Captain?"

'_Click'_

Again, nothing.

'_Click'_

'_ClickClickClickClickClickClickClick'_

"Captain!" Nagi snapped.

The soldier, now emanating with killing intent, glared at the remote and that blasted box. He took the remote and slowly began crushing the device with his bare hands. A hairline fracture appeared at one of the ends.

'Chwick' went the projector.

Ah yes, even inanimate objects had their limits. The slide fell into place.

The screen at the front of the room read: "ASSUAULT AT GARDEROBE"

"Ahem, here we go." The captain looked expectantly at the duke.

"Now, captain, would you care to explain to me how exactly this happened?" Nagi smirked at him, "On your watch no less."

"Sir, well as you can see, we were taken by a surprise attack."

"All I can see is a title written in all capital letters," Nagi replied, "Would you like to _show_me, with some real evidence as it were?"

The captain brought out the remote again and clicked the button.

Nagi tilted his head trying to make sense of it. The slide was upside down, out of focus, and he supposed that there were some sort of explosions in the background.

"Uh, let me fix that." The captain rushed back to the brown box, flipped the slide in question around, and readjusted the lens.

If it had happened under different circumstances, Nagi supposed it would have been an amusing picture. Slightly blurred, a giant metal wolf stood towering next to the, as of then, untouched buildings. On top of the wolf were five figures, one of them unclothed. The picture was suspiciously focused in on that particular unclothed individual rather than say, the giant guns attached to the sides of the wolf that were in the process of firing.

The captain's face blanched at Nagi's reaction. "Well, our initial reports suggest that the former Gakuenchou managed to sneak on campus, forcefully retrieved the bewitching amethyst, and began the assault on our forces."

"With this," Nagi began, "What would you call it Captain?"

"Uh, an unknown-slave type sir."

"Yes, and so she attacked the campus with this 'unknown-slave type'" Nagi gestured the quotes in a mocking way, "and then what happened?"

The captain pushed the remote and another slide was brought up.

"She attacked, or rather the unknown-slave type did."

Nagi looked over the explosion of ice, and flying debris, and possibly what appeared to be some green-haired girl flying off into the distance. It was rather impressive.

"Casualties?"

"Unknown, but we did loose contact with most of our equipment and men."

"Our valkyries?"

"Well, we believe that most of them were disabled in the initial strike."

"A disappointment to be sure," Nagi's eyes narrowed, "And this assault consisted of a single, giant, wolf?"

"Uh, no sir."

"So, who else attacked?"

"The students and the faculty sir."

"And how exactly did this happen?" Nagi rested his chin against his hand.

"After that initial strike, she managed to get a hold of one of the radio transmitters and began to broadcast over the spectrum."

"Yes, and what message did she send over the airwaves?"

The man brought out a crumpled piece of paper from his side pockets and scanned the text. "Uh sir, I believe it was somewhere along the lines of: "

He paused, before beginning to recite in a monotone voice.

"Come with me if you want to live. Yes, yes, I'm talking from a giant flying wolf. Now get off of your asses, and climb on board, before I blow up this place to smithereens. –No I am perfectly fine. Stop looking at me like that. Get away-- let go of me-- stupid figments of my imagination… YES IT IS PERFECTLY FINE TO BLOW IT ALL UP."

"I'm afraid the message gets a bit more garbled after that." The Captain finished.

Nagi looked at the man with an amused expression.

"Uh, our specialists are suggesting that the former Gakuenchou must be under severe stress."

"Stress indeed, but how did the students and the faculty react?"

The captain clicked the remote.

It was an image of pure chaos. Groups of girls were overpowering the soldiers standing guard over the rooms.

Nagi sighed, "So with an incoherent cry to fight, the Gakuenchou motivated the students and faculty to revolt."

"Yes, sir."

"And the soldiers guarding them, were overwhelmed by small, little, teenage girls."

"Yes, sir."

"And not only that, but these small, little, teenage girls managed to get outside and climb on that 'unknown-slave type.' "

The captain gulped.

"And the faculty as well?"

"Yes, they managed to escape too, somehow."

Nagi brought his hands together, and took in a deep breath.

"As crazed as she may have been, it appears that the Gakuenchou has still gotten the best of us. Could you please give me a brief summary over what we have just covered?"

The captain was starting to feel rather unsettled.

"Well uh, sir, the Gakuenchou managed to sneak on campus undetected. After doing so she began her assault using some sort of superior slave. Her first objective was to retrieve the beguiling amethyst, which she did by simply by blowing open the holding room using said slave. After the retrieval of the beguiling amethyst she blew up that quadrant with an unknown energy attack. Unfortunately most of our reserve soldiers along with monitoring equipment were stationed there at the time." The captain coughed. "After crippling our defenses, she started streaming messages over the air to get the attention of the students. The students and a good portion of the faculty, in the ensuing chaos, managed to climb aboard."

"And this is how we got into all of this mess, correct?"

"Yes, sir."

"And what do we intend to do about it?" Nagi asked.

"Uh… Nothing sir."

Nagi glared. "So you mean to say that we can't do anything to track a_ giant, flying, wolf,_ which is also carrying the majority of the student body of Gardenrobe."

"Yes! -- I mean no sir." The captain flinched under Nagi's disapproving eyes, "I mean sir, that we are still buried underground, after all."

"Right, and If we're buried underground, how exactly did we get these images?" Nagi spoke to him as if the man were only a child.

"Well, sir…" The captain said flustered, "One of the privates had a, ahem, a ho--hobby of taking pictures around campus. Thankfully he was using one of the older models, and well, it was plenty dark enough down here to develop the film."

"That is quite understandable for young men to have their hobbies," Nagi grinned, "But Captain, would you care to explain to me why we are underground?" Nagi asked sweetly.

"Because sir, before retreating, the unknown-slave type sent one final attack at our direction. The structure of the building just couldn't take it."

"Indeed, the building just couldn't take it." Nagi repeated with a smirk, "Captain, I just have one thing to say to you."

"Yes, sir?"

"Do you like to dig?"

* * *

Viola Shizuru had been worried that the wolf would disappear when they had knocked the girl unconscious, but it was still flying just as swiftly through the air, even if the giant beast gave her hate-filled glances from time to time.

The person who looked terribly like Natsuki Kruger, but had acted in such odd ways, was now asleep, her cheeks flushed with fever. The clothes that she wore were definitely foreign, but despite all of the places that Shizuru had visited, she never saw patterns such as these before.

Even more disturbing was the missing Ice Silver Crystal.

"She's not too badly hurt is she?" Shizuru asked.

"Don't feel too bad about it. We did have to stop her from vaporizing the entire school, after all." Yohko Helene laughed. "Besides, by the looks of things, the little bop to the head that we gave her just sent her over the edge. She appears to have some sort of fever. Probably just a bug she caught or it might even be food poisoning."

"Well, she did mention something about bad mayonnaise." Shizuru gingerly touched her throat and frowned at the memory.

Yohko nodded. "Yes, I suppose something like that would do it. Knowing the Gakuenchou and all." She paused, "Wasn't Nao supposed to have been accompanying her?"

Shizuru raised her eyebrows. "Yes but, I do not think that this is the Gakuenchou, cute as she may be."

"What makes you say that?" Yohko replied, "I mean, just because her hair is down, doesn't make her a different person."

"What do you mean?"

"Look," Yohko hovered over the look-alike, and then gently raised the sleeping girl's hair above her right ear.

"Older."

She lowered the hair again.

"Younger."

She raised the hair.

"Older—"

"Please stop playing with her hair." Shizuru frowned.

"Possessive aren't you?" Yohko let the blue locks slip from her fingertips. "Even if you think it's not her."

Shizuru merely smiled politely. "Even with your demonstration, she still looks too young."

"So what do you think? A clone? A time-space anomaly?" Yohko folded her arms across her chest. "She couldn't have been this wild in her youth."

"Wild, I would say, in a different sort of way." Shizuru said in a distracted manner.

"In any case, behavior caused by feverish delirium or not, if this isn't the Gakuenchou, then who is she?" Yohko thought aloud. "And more importantly, where is the real Natsuki Kruger?"

"We'll just have to ask her when she wakes up."

"I was afraid of that." Yohko sighed, "But also, what are we going to do about this?" Yohko pointed to the hoards of students and faculty that had amazingly crammed onto Duran's back.

Comically they were packed in tighter than a can of sardines.

"My ass hurts, Miss Maria" a student whined near the back.

"Such language!"

Viola Shizuru chuckled.

"Not much we can do until we land." Shizuru looked down at the distant landscape, "Unless you want to jump first."

Yohko waved her hands. "No thanks. Still, do you have any idea of where are we headed?" Yohko asked. "This stupid thing hasn't stopped for hours."

Shizuru frowned and gazed more deeply at the landscape. "If I didn't know better, I would say that we are headed toward Aswad."

* * *

Duran again looked wearily at the key that was not a key, before carefully returning his head to face forward. He hoped his master would be safe in the presence of that woman. Duran held back a growl. These people were another problem. There were so many that clung to his body that he was sure that any sudden movements would throw them off. However, all of their shifty movements made it incredibly uncomfortable. He was developing an itch.

Looking at the moonlight sky, Duran knew it would not be long now until he met the other child that frequently crossed over into this realm. Surely it would have a better sense of what to do in this strange land. He certainly did not trust any of this realm's inhabitants with his unconscious master.

Duran zoomed along the air currents, trying desperately to ignore the writhing creatures on his back. He was so close to his destination, and so close to a well deserved rest.

Absentmindedly he flicked his ear forward, to ease the itch there, before he remembered what he was doing.

Duran looked downwards with his eyes, and watched as a small pink figure rapidly fell towards the ground.

Whoops, he dropped one.

* * *

It was a cool night in the desert, with a full luminous moon overhead.

Just beautiful.

Mashiro had suggested that the two of them look at the stars. It felt sort of fitting to do such a thing after renewing their vows, though the girl wouldn't admit it openly.

"That there," Mashiro pointed out to a series of stars roughly that were arranged in a semi-rectangular shape, "Is the constellation of the big ladle."

Arika squinted, "Yeah I guess I can sort of see that one. But it would be rather bad ladle with all of those holes in it."

Mashiro frowned. "Um, yes I suppose so." She hurriedly pointed out another familiar constellation "And that is the sleeping sheep."

"Really?" Arika rubbed her chin and pondered the sight, "With just four stars? That doesn't seem right at all."

"Use your imagination." Mashiro paused. "You know, if you do have one at all."

"Hey!" Arika pouted. "You don't have to be so mean."

Arika stated to fume, and Mashiro was afraid she was going to have to apologize right after they had just made up. Before she could open her mouth, Arika cut her off.

"Hey, hey what's that?" Arika excitedly pointed out, to a funny blob up ahead.

_Thank goodness for short attention spans. _

"It must be a bird." Mashiro replied.

"No, it's definitely getting larger. It must be an otome!" Arika excitedly declared.

A black figure dropped dramatically between the two.

"No," Rad corrected them both with his superior cyborg vision, "It's a flying wolf and children are falling off of it."

.: End of Chapter :.

* * *

**Author's Note:**Weird cutoff? And Short? Whatever, I need sleep. I also realize the need for me to revise Chapter 1, but that probably won't happen for some time. After all, I shouldn't have written this chapter today instead of writing code. Alas, my brain doesn't cooperate with me sometimes. My thanks go out to those who have commented already. More comments and suggestions are welcome, as always. 


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3 – The Desert Ninja (and Sidekick Cyborgs)**

Midori nearly lost her footing when the child underneath her halted abruptly, settling to hover in mid-air.

"Gakutenou?"

The great metal beast did not respond, nor did it continue on their journey. Never before had Gakutenou ignored her commands outright. Was it refusing to take revenge on Cardair?

"Leader, look above!"

Midori glanced at the night sky. So, Gakutenou had stopped for a reason after all. Something, perhaps, like the garish outline of a large flying object.

Midori frowned. "Rad, keep an eye on that Queen. It might be a double cross to wipe us out for good."

Without saying a word, Rad effortlessly stepped off of Gakutenou, freefalling downwards toward his target.

Midori, drew her blades, and ordered Gakutenou to intercept the intruders. Gakutenou responded obediently this time, like she knew it would. Her body braced instinctively as Gakutenou suddenly accelerated, wind whirring underneath and past her in a dizzying display of speed that would make mere mortals cry. Without hesitation, Midori sent out the mental command to start the fake gem. The initial start-up sequence flashed a dangerous green against the dark of the night. After it was complete, a surge of power flooded through her system. Her nerves tingled, her muscles tightened, it was an incredible feeling, of strength, of near invincibility, as everything down to every last bone and sinew was heightened for a singular purpose.

Oh, now this was power, power that could be used for both good and evil.

Tightening her grip on her swords, she smiled in anticipation. Midori would give them a fight to remember.

* * *

In hindsight, climbing on top of that wolf's ear had been a very bad decision. 

But she had never been one to turn down a dare.

"Materialize!"

Nothing. Not even a tingle.

Well, no one could blame her for trying.

Now falling from an indecent altitude, with her ears deafened by the sound of her dropping like a rock while the wind impolitely stood still, the coral, or soon to be ex-coral student pondered how she would get out of this situation.

Materialization, well, she knew it wouldn't have worked from the start.

The Fumi system was still down, and she had no authorization. Though, all things considered, perhaps she was a bit too calm about her ordeal. As she reflected on it further, this was one of the bad parts about her otome training, or rather her unofficial training. The girls had often played a game of chicken, seeing who could freefall the furthest, without using their powers to slow their descent.

She had always won that game because she had no fear of heights. It was something she was quite proud of, and was a good party pleaser even if only for the fact that it held the guests' attentions out of dread and tension, but now that she thought about it, with the her face blasted numb from the night air, her heart racing uncontrollably, and with no savior in sight, perhaps people _were _supposed to be afraid of heights for a reason.

Probably, it had something to do about falling and dying from the impact.

Who would have thought?

Now, what did people do in their last moments of life?

The stereotypical answer would be something like getting a delicious last meal, or smoking a cigarette, or probably cursing.

Well, all things conside—

'_CRACK'_

It was the end.

The coral felt a sharp impact, felt the wind pop out of her, felt her socket being torn out of place. Oh, she had imagined that death from such a height would be much more spontaneous. Something much more instantaneous. Nothing at all like the burning, aching, fiery sensation, that made her want to cry.

"Stop writhing so dramatically." A gruff voice answered.

Funny, she had always thought god would have been a woman.

So lost in thought, the coral had never noticed the movements of another, different metal beast to swoop underneath her. Or of the woman who rode on top of it that had caught her with superhuman reflexes. The coral was now being held up, dangling by a single arm, with one superhuman woman the only thing between her and the very distant land underneath.

"Stop moving like an idiot." The voice demanded again. "You're not dead yet."

Opening her eyes that she had involuntarily closed from the sudden impact, she found herself looking at hardened eyes and wild red hair.

Dazed, the girl blurted out, "I'm not dead?"

Bringing the girl closer, the warrior woman narrowed her eyes as she took a better look at the coral's dress. "An otome?" Her savior scoffed, red hair billowing in the night sky, "Has that idiot resorted to dropping their students as makeshift bombs?"

The woman sighed, and suddenly the coral felt herself being thrown up indignantly into the air, before being caught again by something hard and cold. She looked up to see a blank metal face.

_Robots? Cyborgs?_

The world was making less and less sense today.

Thankfully, it did not take long for the pain to render her unconscious.

* * *

Yohko had been feeling uneasy ever since the landscape had turned to nothing but desert. Something else was off, she could feel it. It was—It was—Yohko turned and looked at the groups of crammed students and faculty, yes that was it. "I think we're missing someone." 

"Who?" Shizuru asked.

"You know the one who thinks too much," Yohko replied, "I don't recall her name."

"It's not good for you to not remember their names." Shizuru scolded, "Thinks too much? That isn't much to go on."

"Well, you would know if she were one of your admirers, I suspect."

"Ara," Shizuru faked a hurt expression, "We can do a headcount, if you feel it to be necessary."

The two were shocked into silence as they felt a rip tide of air, that of acceleration being brought to an incredible stop. Another familiar giant beast impeded their way, red and gold, flashing in the moonlight.

"That _won't_ be necessary." Midori motioned to the unconscious coral with a tilt of the head. "I believe you dropped something?"

"Midori…" Yohko whispered.

Shizuru tensed and could not help but feel her mask turn into a frown. It was the leader of Aswad. Without their robes, they were completely and utterly defenseless.

"Now, tell me what you're doing here, before I skewer this beast, and let the rest of you fall like _dogs._" Midori let the threat hover, as she raised her blades in a battle stance, "Tell me, or you'll all be falling very soon."

The chattering of the students died to complete silence.

There was a tense pause before Shizuru stepped forward.

"Peace," Shizuru taking the lead, "We mean you and your kin no harm. We did not even mean for us to be here."

"And yet, here you are. Using something," Midori scrutinized Duran, "that obviously does not belong to Garderobe."

"It happened to appear before us. I assure you that we are no threat." Shizuru replied.

"Or, perhaps there is something subtler going on here." Midori accused, pointed out her sword toward the column, "Sending the Queen as decisive bait, to lure us into a false sense of security, while I retaliated against Cardair. The rest of my people would be easy prey from a beast like this."

Midori's eyes narrowed.

"You were never going to share the technology with us, were you?"

"I don't—" Shizuru paused, frowning. _The Queen was here?_ "We mean you no harm," Shizuru repeated.

"Those guns would suggest otherwise."

"But, we do not even want to be here."

"Stop your lies," Midori spat, "It seems like you would refuse to tell me what I want to know, even when death looks you in the face."

"I--" Shizuru trailed off. This was almost hopeless.

* * *

Natsuki dreamed. 

Like all her other dreams, she was on a mission. It was summer, but that Afro teacher had given her intel that she just couldn't turn away from. She had to do this, needed to do this, even though it seemed like her biking leathers were making her overheat ridiculously.

Her goal? She had to retrieve the legendary and ultimate limited edition black lace bra and panty set. The world depended on it after all.

Natsuki lay flat on the ground, before slowing bringing up her night vision goggles, the familiar green shade flooding into view. There it was, her target, surrounded by a minefield of negi. The bastards had to get the top security didn't they?

And as she pondered how exactly she would navigate such hazards, probably through an impressive motorcycle jump, or perhaps a simple flamethrower—the dream degenerated, the transition making perfect sense in dream logic.

Natsuki drifted in limbo.

It was something. A voice.

The feeling of something familiar. A familiar presence. A friend.

Something about cards. And maids.

Her dream returned to a more familiar memory.

It was a cool night, but their excitement had kept them warm. This was the ultimate mission. They had been given a second chance to right all the wrongs done to them. It was a chance to make everything right. It was a chance to end it all.

It was the night they destroyed the star.

Old enemies, old friends, it didn't matter; they were true comrades, at least for that night.

The feel of the wind, the heat of their passions for a world where they had choice, it was familiar, it felt right.

Natsuki sat straight up, still half asleep and yelled, "Hime sentai ASSEMBLE!"

* * *

"It is a pity that you try to distract me with such blatant lies," Midori face darkened, "GAKUTENOU!" 

The child began to accelerate, a red and gold streak against the pale moonlight in the sky.

Shizuru reflexively tried to shield the feverish girl from a strike she couldn't possibly hope to block.

"---Hime sentai ASSEMBLE!"

Shizuru suddenly found the sleeping girl, half-awake in her arms.

Gakutenou halted itself in mid-charge, turning away the rest of its momentum, and veered wildly away from Duran. After the near miss it made a wide turn and brought itself to match speeds with Duran, obediently pacing next to him side by side.

"What on Earth?" Midori hissed. "Gakutenou! What are you doing?"

While it was loyal, Gakutenou remembered. There were important things that one must never forget.

Gakutenou looked at the blue-haired girl and the child she rode on.

Friend, it considered. Comrades couldn't fight each other after all.

That was the worst thing you could do.

Power was not supposed to be used like that.

Cursing, Midori prepared to jump onto the wolf to dispatch the invaders herself, but instead found herself clutching onto Gakutenou for dear life.

"Hime Sentai Z-FORMATION!" yelled the sleeping girl.

The children started to scream, as both Duran and Gakuentenou performed a perfect barrel roll.

* * *

"Rad, what exactly do you think they're doing up there?" Arika squinted at the night sky. 

The two flying creatures were now performing intricate and detailed feats of aerobatics: figure eights, barrel roles, turn-pin curves, and more.

Even Mashiro had to admit that this was quite an impressive show.

Rad scratched his chin, though nothing itched, out of force of habit. "What are they doing?" He repeated the question, "Playing, I would think."

* * *

**Author's Note:** Another short chapter, but I liked the feeling of this one. I think I've got my writing stride back. I also stayed up way too late for this one, I nearly wrote out Gakuenchou instead of Gakutenou multiple times. Anyway, next time I promise that Natsuki will be fully awake and somewhat less delirious in the next chapter. Writing a person who thinks she's hallucinating gets a bit tiring. Also, who wants me to revise chapter one first before I get any further? I think I could flesh out that part pretty decently. Comments and questions are welcome, as always. 


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4 – Natsuki, the girl that wasn't quite Kruger**

"STOP! GAKUTENOU STOP! " Midori yelled over the roar of the air.

Midori bit her lip as she waited for a response, any sort of response, from the creature that had up until this very moment had followed every one of her requests.

Gakutenou made no reassuring coos to ease Midori's growing agitation, and long gone was the intoxicating feeling of perfect synchronization with a separate entity. All that the world offered her now were the intermittent screams of the spoiled children flying alongside her.

This was pure madness. How did that witch have such control over the ancients' technology? With just a few nonsensical words the two beasts had gone berserk. Completely berserk. Gakutenou wasn't listening, wasn't responding to her calls, wasn't doing anything but following those stupid commands.

She was being ignored and that hurt more than anything.

It was irritating, a frustration she hadn't felt since her youth when her people's situation seemed hopeless. It was a time from before, when there was no power, when there was little chance for change, when she was as helpless as the fools who pandered to the corrupt system.

Something would have to be done. She—no, _they_, Midori corrected herself, couldn't stay like this forever.

What was their objective? Their actions had neither rhyme nor reason. They had nothing to gain; moreover their actions were not only affecting her, but the beast that they rode on as well.

If anything, they were simply mad.

A sharp crack made her flinch. Midori had let this go on for far too long. Looking down at her hand, she watched as fake green gem shattered, automatically triggering the hand assembly to eject the green shards into the blistering wind. Her heart sank as the rush of power left her just as swiftly as had her control over Gakutenou. It was a cold feeling. Weak. Alone. Feeble. Midori grimaced, as she retightened her grip on Gakutenou, using only her natural strength to prevent herself from falling and becoming flatter than a pancake.

Everything was falling to pieces.

"Leader, what about the girl?" Dyne asked her.

Midori looked back at the cyborgs and the still unconscious otome slumped underneath Dyne's right arm.

"Dump her if you can't hold on." Midori replied, "There's no point in losing you over someone we don't know"

"Aye, leader." Dyne nodded at her. "But, I think I can hold on to both for a while."

"HiME Sentai SPIRAL!" yelled the incoherent blue-haired witch.

Midori felt her stomach lurch as Gakutenou rotated about his side and the world turned upside down and around again in a dizzying manner. Her arms strained as she clenched her handhold, preventing gravity from taking over and flinging her off Gakutenou.

It was a wonder that no one else had dropped off yet.

"Make her stop saying those things already!" Midori growled.

Her enemy cocked her head slightly at the comment. "We're a little—" Shizuru huffed, re-centering her hold on Natsuki, as the girl jerked mid-dream,"—busy at the moment."

"Just make it stop." Midori hissed, as she let her arms rest during the brief lull in activity, "You'll all fall off too, if you don't stop her!"

"I don't know," Shizuru said, "Even though we don't have access to our robes, the nanomachines still make us much stronger than normal people. The students all seem to have a relatively good grip on things. After all, I'm sure they would, at the very least, last much longer than you." Shizuru eyed the missing gem, "Isn't that right?"

"Somehow I doubt that." Midori replied, looking at the white knuckled students, "If you hadn't noticed, your students are looking rather green at the gills."

"Perhaps a little incentive would be nice?" Shizuru suggested. "Like something along the lines of a Non-Aggression pact?"

"A WHAT?" Midori could not believe her ears.

"A NON-AGGRESSION PACT!" Shizuru yelled loudly over the wind.

Midori paused, as she quickly reviewed her options.

"I heard you." Midori grunted, before turning back to look at the unconscious otome, "Or, perhaps it would be incentive enough for me to not drop this one? Dyne is such a butterfingers. He tends to drop things all the time."

"All the time," Dyne agreed, loosening his grip on the coral.

Shizuru eyes narrowed as the coral slipped a few more inches toward her doom, "As I said, a non-aggression pact: we promise not to hurt each other, and…" Shizuru looked at the unconscious girl with concern, "and, we would be open to sharing certain technologies. For example, if the Queen of Windbloom did indeed sanction the sharing of such knowledge, we would, of course, be compelled to follow through on her word."

"HiME Sentai SUPER-FINISHER!" Natsuki yelled.

Midori fell down, unprepared for the rapid acceleration that Gakutenou displayed. Glancing over she saw that blasted mechanical hound matching Gakutenou's speed, stride for stride.

"So— ugh," Shizuru straightened herself against the forces that tried to fling her outward, "Would that be acceptable?"

It was absurd using a previous agreement to forge something unreasonable.

"Leader!"

This was all so stupid and insane. It went against everything that she knew was right.

But.

Her arms were tired and her hands were sweaty. The cyborgs would hold out much better than her, but still, they could not stay like this forever.

Today was crazy enough. Perhaps, it would be fine for the world to make a little less sense today.

She could kill them later easily enough.

"Fine, fine, you nitwits." Midori scowled. "A non-aggression pact it is then."

Midori watched, as the column, looking quite pleased with herself positioned the sleeping Gakuenchou so that they faced one another. The column looked intensively at the blue-haired woman, and when she looked ready to blurt out yet another inane command, the column leaned forward and stopped the words that threatened to kill them all.

What a show.

If Midori were to guess, the woman woke up due to lack of air.

Natsuki's eyes flared. Instinctively the girl brought her head forward quickly and Shizuru was rewarded for her actions with the dull thud of two skulls meeting one another.

A head-butt.

"Ara." Shizuru managed to make out as her brain rattled.

"BWAH," Natsuki blurted out rubbing her forehead, "Shizuru, didn't I tell you never to do that? That was in the contract too you idiot! IDIOT!"

The girl squirmed her way out of the older otome's hands, but quickly reconsidered, as the two children dipped suddenly in the air, and was caught by the older woman.

"I'm still mad at you," The girl blurted out.

While, that display of violence was rather amusing in itself, Midori couldn't help but notice that the flying beasts were still nowhere under control. They were doing absurd maneuvers that made even her iron stomach protest.

"Make them stop, you idiot Gakuenchou!"

"Midori?" Natsuki muttered, rubbing the dust out of her eyes, "Make them stop?"

"Yes _them!" _Midroi gesticulated wildly at the children with a single hand, as she felt her legs dangling dangerously in the air. "Of course make _them_ stop. What do you think I mean?"

The world when she was awake made no less sense than it did in her dreams, but Natsuki couldn't help but laugh. Yes, it was distinctively there, in the posture of Duran's ears and the way Gakutenou raised its tail. Natsuki correctly guessed the next turn that the beasts took, bracing herself in the opposite direction against the hard turn. Yes, this is definitely what she thought it was.

It was the finishing move. A silly and yet painstakingly choreographed set of 32 movements that had been designed by Midori, to as she put it, "confuse and intimidate the orphans in an awesome display of their supreme justice."

It had never been used in practice.

"Oh, you _forgot_ didn't you?" Natsuki looked at Midori with a mischievous glint in her eyes. "It was originally your fault you know, this _whole_ mess. I swear you damn near traumatized our children to get this routine done even when there were no more orphans left to get rid of."

"Orphans? What the hell are you talking about? Just, make it stop!" Midori demanded.

Natsuki, gripped on tightly as Duran and Gakutenou completed another roll. When the world leveled enough for Natsuki to make heads or tails out of the situation, she looked curiously at Midori and the curious garb she wore. Midori was sporting some sort of mutated ninja costume, complete with matching ivory swords. Her hallmark pink labrys was nowhere to be seen, though, Natsuki supposed it wouldn't match her current outfit. No doubt, Midori was wearing yet another cosplay of some character from whatever anime that the woman had gotten addicted to.

"Okay, but just promise me one thing." Natsuki began, knowing the dangers of making a deal with the woman.

"What is it?" Midori growled.

"No Karaoke."

"WHAT?"

"NO KARAOKE!" Natsuki yelled at full strength. Midori must be deaf.

Looking puzzled, the leader of Aswad relented. "Fine!"

Natsuki smiled to herself and then called out using her most serious voice, "HiME Sentai LAND!"

Both Gakutenou and Duran halted their earlier maneuvers, and looped gracefully around toward Aswad. While in midair, they suspiciously stopped directly between the moon and the ground, their shadows casting a fearsome silhouette to any viewers watching on the ground.

Their pose complete, the two children continued their smooth descent toward the desert sands. It did not take long before the two behemoths touched the earth, displacing mounds of sand from the sheer weight of the beasts. Terrified and weak, some of the students fell the remaining distance off of Duran and kissed the ground in newfound appreciation of the very solid and stable pieces of earth that they had never bother to notice before.

Midori jumped off of Gakutenou, her arms and legs feeling much like jelly. The woman shook her head. All of this was crazy, insane, just plain mad. Now safely on the ground, Midori looked incredulously at Natsuki, "WHAT? _That_ was it? We've could have ended this ages ago with just _that_?"

Natsuki shrugged.

"Did you think it would be more complicated? After you start them up in HiMe Sentai mode, they won't listen to you unless you say 'HiME Sentai' before it," Natsuki frowned at the memory. "You insisted on such a thing to prevent the other members from running away from such sessions." Natsuki sighed, "Or you know, from stopping perfectly respectable people from saying idiotic things."

"I did no such thing!" Midori fumed, "Why would I even associate with someone such as _you_?"

"It was still your fault." Natsuki lazily yawned, seemingly unperturbed by the barb.

"How could it possibly be my fault?" Midori reasoned.

"Well, it doesn't really matter right now does it?" Natsuki began to climb down the back of Duran.

Midori clenched her jaw, but decided to hold her tongue. This blue-haired woman was indeed mad.

Watching the entire exchange with his crimson glowing eyes, Duran eyed the slow progress of his master and wished that she would hurry and get off of him. Now that he knew that Natsuki would be relatively safe in this world, he could finally get a well deserved rest. This place was not as dangerous as Duran had first assumed. Gakutenou had assured him of that matter, even if its inhabitants were rather puzzling to it.

At last! His heart leapt in joy as his master finally touched the sand. He really couldn't stand it anymore. Encouraging the other passengers to get off of him, he shook vigorously, as if he were trying to dry himself after a swim.

Natsuki could only look in horror as she saw the silhouettes of young girls sailing across the desert floor.

Several of Duran's former passengers were thrown a good distance before plopping safely into the sand, their startled screams muted by the sand in their mouths. With the majority of them off, Duran took the opportunity to scratch his ear with his hind leg. Oh, he had waited so long for this. It was _pure bliss._

"DURAN, BAD DOG!" Natsuki yelled at him.

Or not.

Looking embarrassed, the great beast simply disappeared, leaving a gust of abnormally icy air behind in the desert basin.

* * *

ch 4

* * *

It was an odd sensation to wake up from a dream, only to realize you were still dreaming, and then to realize that you had been dreaming in a dream.

It was even odder when a figment of your imagination was interrogating you.

"Who are you?" Shizuru asked.

"Natsuki." She replied, bored already.

"And who am I?"

"Shizuru, obviously." Natsuki answered, "Or my twisted approximation of Shizuru."

The bewitching amethyst frowned at the dismissive tone that the younger girl gave her, and paused trying to rethink of a better way of phrasing her questions.

While Shizuru was observing her, Natsuki took the opportunity to get a better look at the surroundings. It appeared to be some remote desert, with some lonely rock outcroppings juxtaposed against the endless rolling sand dunes. Located in front of them was a sizable cave with several hundred inhabitants living inside. There was probably some sort of water source nearby, or else these people couldn't have possibly lived here for that long.

Shizuru began to open her mouth.

"What, are you going to start all over again with the explanations?" Natsuki asked Shizuru. "This place obviously isn't real."

"This isn't a dream. This isn't a hallucination. This is reality." Shizuru repeated. It was starting to sound like this was going to be her new mantra.

"Well, let me see," Natsuki started, placing her hand around her headband to check the temperature. "I think I don't' have a fever anymore, but really this is all too absurd."

"This is reality." Shizuru repeated. "Look, I'm here, feel me."

"I'd rather not. You get some bad ideas sometime." Natsuki said sarcastically.

"I'm not fake. This place isn't fake." Shizuru's voice threatened to crack. There was now an obvious look of concern on the older woman's face, which only made Natsuki chuckle at the surprising amount of emotion that the woman displayed. It usually took much more for Shizuru's mask to fade away.

Her mind made a rather shoddy representation of Shizuru.

"You know, that's what most figments of my imagination would say." Natsuki replied, "Can you just listen to yourself for a moment? I'm supposedly the headmaster of some school, which trains young girls to become maids of mass destruction. It's the most absurd thing you can think of."

Shizuru brought a hand up to her head and began to rub her temple.

"Especially the maid part." Natsuki said with a frown, almost as if to reassure herself. "I certainly don't have a maid fetish. I can see Fumi having one though."

"The Otome-System, has kept our lands stable, ever since the Great War broke out between the twelve kingdoms."

"Couldn't they have done something more sensible? Like create some sort of independent forum, where people can talk out their differences? Or at the very least threaten each other proverbially with large sticks rather than train maids?" Natsuki asked, "Nuclear weapons would work nicely for that I think."

Shizuru didn't answer the question.

"If this is not real," Shizuru began, "What exactly do you think this is then?"

"A dream? A bad mayonnaise trip? Some poor excuse for purgatory?" Natsuki listed the options off the fingers of her left hand. "Or, maybe I'm in a coma again."

"Again?"

"You don't know?" Natsuki asked her seriously, "Well, long story short, due to a series of unfortunate circumstances, I was in a coma when I was a kid. And while I was in it, it wasn't just a complete black out. I think I dreamed while I was under. Specifically, it had something to do with a lion and a wardrobe, I think, and something about an ice queen, or it could have been something about a talking horse. I never did quite remember all of the details."

Shizuru gave her a confused look.

"It was all kind of vague, though the lion did demand that I step onto some sort of train."

"A train?" Shizuru repeated.

"Yeah, but I had a bad feeling about it." Natsuki waved her hand dismissively trying to get away from the topic, "Look, there appears to be a major misunderstanding over who you think I am."

" But, if you're not _her_," Shizuru demanded, "Then who are you? And where is _she_?"

"I am who I am." Natsuki replied coolly, "If you can try and get it through that rather thick skull of yours, I think we'd be much better off." Natsuki shook her head and looked at a figure she had caught in her peripheral vision, "Hmph, well I think we'll have to finish this conversation at another time. Midori looks rather grumpy."

Shizuru looked over to see the leader of Aswad striding toward them with deadly intent.

"Actually," Natsuki clarified, "I haven't seen her looking this angry ever since that time the doctor decided to hide all of her booze."

* * *

ch 4

* * *

This was beyond embarrassing. Infuriating really.

Midori walked up to the pair, her fists clenched tight in a rage.

Shizuru stepped forward, halting Midori's angry advance.

"We had a non-aggression pact, did we not?" Shizuru asked the disgruntled leader.

"We had a non-aggression pact, yes, that much is true, _but_," Midori emphasized the word, "_but_, who said you could rest here?" Midori fumed, "Does Aswad really look like a daycare center for the stupid and decrepit?"

"A little, yes." Natsuki answered her truthfully.

Natsuki looked over at the bandaged Windbloom refugees and otome students. Almost as if to prove her point, Arika who had been carrying water jugs, promptly tripped and fell on her face.

Midori's eyebrow twitched at the sight.

"Get out," Midori growled. "Leave this place,"

"Or what?" Shizuru asked her.

"Or I will gut you both." Midori replied, bringing out her blades faster than the column could react. The blades were not aimed at Shizuru. Her target was the Gakuenchou. Midori, did not intend to kill, at least not yet, but her strike was fair and true.

This was a warning. The only warning these dogs would get.

Stray strands of dark cobalt hair fluttered to the ground, and were soon followed by the perfectly cut white segments of what used to be her headband.

"Ah," Natsuki said realizing what was on her forehead.

Shizuru ran forward to stop any further attack, but paused as the clear black text caught her eyes.

"Property of…" Shizuru read with narrowed eyes, "Fujino Shizuru?"

* * *

ch4

* * *

**Author's note:** Whoo, what a tough week. I had two midterms, a project and yet another 4-hour tech-interview to take care of, and look at how I still managed to squeeze out another chapter. This one wasn't very funny I'm afraid, but I had to get a lot of exposition and who's who out of the way.

Also, if anyone knows anything about the whole Reito (Rad), Yohko, Midori back-story, it would be great if you could point out some of those references. There was something hinted at their relationship in the anime, but to my knowledge nothing was ever really revealed.

As a side note, I read through some of the audio translations of the Mai Otome drama cds, and I have to say it was rather traumatizing to learn how Tomoe got her baby fetish.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5 – Permanent Words and the Queen**

"Property of Fujino Shizuru?"

The words hung heavy in the air, as heavy as the air can hold onto such intangible symbols.

Shizuru felt her lips tighten into a frown. Her muscles locked in place, taught and tense. Looking at those words over and over again Shizuru forgot about the enemy that she had been so concerned with just a moment prior.

They say a picture is worth a thousand words, but with just a paltry handful, the original argument had stopped dead in its tracks.

Natsuki froze out of embarrassment, looking mournfully at what remained of her headband.

Even Midori paused, the unfamiliar taint of hesitation curiously taking over. She knew it was the wrong action to take. The leader of Aswad had learned time and time again that hesitation killed people. Inaction killed the weak. Still the sight was, well, Midori had never seen something like that before. The eternal 17 year old wasn't sure whether to laugh, or to ask the two women some interesting questions.

And so, three stiff statues stood in the middle of the desert.

A cool night breeze blew by. Elsewhere, a scorpion was eaten by a desert red-eye owl that was then snatched up by a Jabbar. _Chomp. Chomp. Chomp._ The circle of life continued in the serene desert night. In the distance, a lone tumbleweed rolled by. It didn't even belong in the desert.

Natsuki broke the silence.

"It's still there isn't it?" Natsuki said with a defeated sigh. "It is isn't it? Even in my _dreams_, it's still there."

Another frustrated sigh escaped Natsuki's lips. "And it still says the same thing?"

"Property of Fujino Shizuru, it says." Midori spoke in her cool voice, putting her blades back into her scabbard.

"And," Shizuru began. "Who is this Fujino person?"

Natsuki looked at the doppelganger curiously. "I assumed that it was you. Since when would I name my perverted figment of my imagination anything else?"

"My name isn't Fujino," the column said decisively, "It's Shizuru Viola."

"Hmm, yes all the purple," Natsuki noted looking at Shizuru's dress, "Yeah, I guess that fits you too."

"And just _who _are you?" Shizuru added.

"It's Natsuki." She replied. "Like I've said time and time again already."

"No, no, your family name. What is it?" Shizuru questioned.

"It's Kuga." Natsuki replied, "My name is Kuga Natsuki."

"Kuga Natsuki?" Shizuru repeated, the foreign word feeling odd on her lips. "It's not Kruger then?"

"Kruger?" Natsuki asked, "Like 'gwar'" Natsuki motioned out mock claws, "A _cougar_ that mauls and eats mountain bikers?"

"No," Shizuru frowned, "Kruger as in, the column #2, the Gakuenchou of Garderobe."

"I'm not a Gakuenchou of anything." Natsuki gave her a wry smile. "I've said so from the beginning. You're not real, I'm not a column, I'm not the Gakuenchou of a school, I don't train little girls to become freaky maids, and all of this is a figment of my imagination."

"You still hang on to that delusion?" Shizuru questioned her, "Even after all that you've seen in this world?"

"Look, when I got here all I saw was some freaky flies, a bit of disturbing sexual content, a messed up school which I partially blew up to relieve some stress, and oh yes," Natsuki added, "then there was Midori cosplaying on top of Gakutenou." Natsuki rubbed her chin. "Well, the last part is rather believable."

"Why did you choose to help then?" Shizuru grabbed Natsuki by the shoulders. "Why did you bother at all?"

Natsuki pushed her away, taking two paces back. "And why not? Even if it's in my dreams, Nagi would always be an ass, and I couldn't just leave you with some weird girl." Natsuki's tone darkened, "Even if my hallucination of Shizuru is a cheating bitch."

"That, that was…" Shizuru trailed off.

"What?" Natsuki asked.

"I did that for you…" Shizuru trailed off, "No, I mean it was for Kruger."

"Seems like a funny way of doing a favor."

"I—" Shizuru stopped.

Between all of this melodrama, Midori somehow felt ignored. The Desert Ninja waved her hand, trying to break up the sappy dialogue playing in front of her face. It was amusing, but not in any way helpful to her goals. "Excuse me, miss powerless column, and impostor Gakuenchou of Garderobe, we still have business to take care of."

The words fell on deaf ears.

"I—" Shizuru started again, "I never wanted to hurt her… or you, if you are her."

Natsuki waved a hand dismissively. "Don't bother. I don't need fictional people apologizing to me. If anything, I'd much rather have Fujino apologizing for this stunt," Natsuki pointed at her forehead.

Shizuru flinched.

"Though, I have to say, that if your Kruger does show up," Natsuki looked at the distraught woman. "You'll need a whole lot of Mayonnaise to make up for it." Natsuki laughed, "Among several other things too, before she can look you in the face again."

Ignored, utterly ignored. "Hello?" "Midori motioned with her blades. "A very important person with very sharp weapons still has business with you."

The two were lost in their own world.

Shizuru said sadly, "I guess I can't hope for anything more than that, can I?"

Ignored. Completely and totally ignored.

Oh how, Midori hated being ignored. It was one of the worst insults that a person could inflict upon another. Being ignored, meant that you were not significant. Being insignificant meant you were weak. Being weak meant you weren't going to survive.

Midori always survived. Aswad would survive. She made sure of it.

This was the final straw.

"Natsuki, I—" Shizuru started, before getting interrupted by a blade hurtling toward Natsuki's face.

Natsuki dodged the blade, the sharp, shining, piece of metal slipping past mere millimeters from her cheek, before lodging itself in the thick sand behind her.

More dark cobalt strands fluttered to the desert floor.

Adrenaline pumping through her veins, Natsuki pointed an accusing finger at Midori. "WHAT THE HELL? And you cut my hair earlier too, didn't you?" Natsuki said, the thought dawning on her.

"Not a big loss," Midori said grinning, before holding out her remaining blade in a very threatening manner. "Get out of Aswad."

"And what if I said no?" Natsuki asked, "What if by some odd chance I like frolicking around in this god forsaken desert?"

Midori's eyes narrowed, "Then I, the eternal 17 year old, will have to force you out." She paused. "In _pieces_."

"Oh for the love of—" Natsuki smacked her forhead, "No one would ever believe that you're 17 years old. You went to school with Yohko-Sensei and we all know that she's _not_ 17." Natsuki sighed. "In fact," Natsuki added, "_I'm _ 17 years old. Not you. I."

Natsuki pointed a finger at her chest.

"I'm the one that's 17 years old," Natsuki repeated.

Midori's face twitched. "You hag." This time Midori didn't hold back. Her muscles uncoiled, striking like a snake after a cornered mouse, holding her blade high as she leapt toward her target.

Alert this time, Natsuki blocked the next attack, quickly summoning her guns. Sparks flew as the materialized gun stopped the Midor's steel blade. Pushing forcefully back, the single blade sailed upward, giving Natsuki an opening to leapt back. As she did so, Natsuki retaliated, firing ice bullets at Midori that the leader dodged; the impacts of the crystal shards dug meters into the soft sand. With an incredible display of skill, Midori deflected several of them with her blade, ice crystals shattering against hardened steel with a sharp 'ting'.

Closing the distance, the two continued this dance as the leader of Aswad tried once more to slice Natsuki in twain.

They locked, pistols against sword. Natsuki leaped back and fired once again. On and on they fought, silver bullets fired and bright sparks of metal against metal lighting up the dark desert night.

Shizuru tumbled out of the way as best as she could, hoping to avoid the deadly crossfire and any stray swings. Without a weapon or her robe this fight was out of her league. At the least, Shizuru noticed that Midori hadn't had the time to replace her imitation gem. It would be a relatively fair fight.

She hoped.

Shizuru shook her head. No, she was confident that the girl would have a fighting a fighting chance. It was the way that the girl moved, and the pistols that she had materialized. Whoever Natsuki was, she was not a normal girl. The girl was stronger, faster, than any normal human should have any right to be.

To top this off, she didn't even have a gem.

Perhaps she really wasn't Kruger after all.

The realization of it made Shizuru's heart drop. Because if this girl wasn't Kruger, then who was she? Where was _her _Natsuki?

Gunshots, the sound of metal screeching against one another. Those bright flashes in the night held Shizuru's attention, hypnotizing in the speed that the two attacked and dodged.

Shizuru's hand clenched tight.

The most infuriating thing of all was that Shizuru was powerless to do anything but watch.

* * *

ch 5

* * *

Mashiro Blan de Windbloom could not believe the sudden turn of events.

"Face it, you lost Mashiro," Arika beamed. "See, they were all otome!"

"You weren't quite right either Arika," Mashiro mumbled.

It was somewhat true. After all, who could have expected a giant metal wolf to dump the student body of Garderobe at the doorstep of Aswad. The outline in the sky had been of a wolf, not a single otome.

It had been tough work getting everyone organized to help the newcomers. After ferrying a number of the wounded students, Arika had finally powered down and was now assisting Mashiro in bandaging the scrapes and bruises that the students had obtained.

"Oi, what exactly happened here?" Mashiro asked one of the corals.

"I don't want to talk about it."

Mashiro got the feeling that the students were a bit traumatized.

Whatever horrific events that the students had went through, they would be safe here.

Aswad was the home of the cursed people. The home of those who had been burned by technology and who in turn had to rely upon it for their survival. Although, they had been afflicted with physical maladies and had seen hardship after hardship, they were really good people deep down.

Mashiro had learned much in this desert. She could only hope that she would be as good as a Queen as the leader was to her people.

Mashiro began to absentmindedly wrap another injured arm in white gauze, when the clashing sound of metal against metal made her look up.

There in the darkness: Leader and Gakuenchou?

"Arika, continue helping the students." Mashiro looked at the girl, her head racing with the possibilities of just what had happened. "I need to talk with the leader."

"Wait! What is it that they're doing?" Asked Arika. "We're all allies now aren't we?"

"That is what you would call fighting." Rad noted, before holding out a hand to prevent Arika from following. "Let the leaders settle this one. It isn't our place to interfere."

* * *

ch 5

* * *

Small footsteps ran as fast as they could in the shifting desert sand.

"Leader!" Mashiro yelled, "Gakuenchou!"

A frantic yell into the desert night.

"Stop! Hold it right there!" Mashiro panted out, "Stop fighting!"

Natsuki glanced over for a split second, before ducking to avoid a strike that threatened to take off her head.

"Mashiro?" Natsuki blurted out.

"Leader, Gakuenchou stop!" Mashiro yelled. "Didn't we have an agreement?"

"Stay out of this." Midori grunted, fending off another bullet.

"Stop! Just think about what you're doing." Mashiro yelled. "How can we give you the technology, if you strike down the Gakuenchou?"

"This and that are not the same." Midori replied.

"Viola-san! Make them stop!" Mashiro pleaded to the column watching in the background.

"I would have stopped them if I could have by now."

This was crazy. Just plain insane. Mashiro frowned. There was something wrong too. Something was different about the Gakuenchou. Her clothes were strange and what exactly were those words on her forehead? But this wasn't the time. It wasn't the time for such questions. Mashiro watched as the Gakuenchou and Leader exchanged blows.

Mashiro watched as the blade came close to ending to hitting the jugular, she watched as bullets fired missed flesh by a hair's breadth. The two danced a deadly dance, their bodies twisting and dodging in quick and sudden movements. The two were dangerous. The two were deadly.

The two were oddly beautiful as well.

Doing this was crazy. It was stupid. But Mashiro didn't have much choice otherwise. She had promised Arika that she wouldn't cry. She had promised that she would be a good Queen. She had promised. She had promised.

She couldn't let them all down now.

Her only action available to her— it was like walking through fire. It was also the only way to stop them.

Mashiro took a deep breath, and jumped between the two. A leap of faith.

It seemed like an infinity, an eternity of time, before Mashiro realized that she was still in one piece and that she wasn't shot. Mashiro exhaled in relief, the adrenaline leaving her trembling, and opened her eyes. She hadn't even noticed closing them.

The two had halted their movements inches away from hitting her. Pistol and sword, held toward Mashiro's face.

They too were frozen in action, waiting for someone to move.

"Stop, do you see how stupid this all is?" Mashiro screamed at them. "Since when do you fight for no reason?"

The two women looked at the queen in shock at her sudden declaration.

"Gakuenchou! Down here!" Mashiro forcefully yelled.

Natsuki obliged, hunching over to meet Mashiro's eyelevel.

"Your actions have consequences!" Mashiro slapped Natsuki in the face.

"And you too leader!" Giving Midori a sudden kick in the shin. "Your actions have consequences too!"

Just as Midori was about to say something, Mashiro interrupted her.

"I'm sorry leader, but please just let them stay." Mashiro looked guiltily as her red hand, "The technology will be yours once we regain Garderobe and Windbloom. I promise." Mashiro paused.

"No, I mean,_ we_ promise. Isn't that right?" Mashiro looked over at Shizuru.

Shizuru nodded.

"So just stop all of this stupidity!" Mashiro yelled. "Leader, please let them stay."

Midori looked down at the young Queen, surprised at the sudden outburst from the girl. How could she say no to such a fine conviction? From such courage?

"Fine." Midori said as cold as ice.

Midori backed down, letting her blade rest for good in her scabbard, before turning to retrieve her other sword.

"Just don't get too comfortable." The leader of Aswad warned.

Eyeing Midori's retreating form, Natsuki let her pistols vanish. She gingerly touched her cheek, still stinging from the sudden force of such small hands. This brash young Mashiro was so ungraceful compared to the school director that she was used to, and blunt to boot.

But still.

Natsuki let out a sigh. _Consequences_, was it?

* * *

ch 5

* * *

**Author's Note:** I hoped you enjoyed this one. If you're curious, I also made some minor revisions to chapter one too. But man, it was slow going trying to type while holding an ice pack to the face. Ah, wisdom teeth, good riddance.

Anyway, there should hopefully be some more comedy in the next chapter, when they stop trying to kill each other. Probably. Maybe I'll write another crack fic tomorrow when I start the vicodin. ;)

Also, since no one seems to know the whole Rad/Midori/Yohko background I'm afraid I'll have to make something up in the future chapters. Leave a review if you want to feed the author's ego. (Hint: she types faster that way)


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6 – Consequences (ver 2.0)**

_Flit. Flit. Flit._

Some people say that the soft pitter-patter of butterfly wings can change the world. With a single flap, a tornado can be born, or dissipated, or perhaps just diverted onto someone else's lawn.

And that's just with a single butterfly.

Now imagine for a moment that something quite unimaginable happens. One person is exchanged for another: in particular, the entrance of a Kuga and the disappearance of a Kruger. A person introduced, that also by some unlikely chance has the ability to summon a giant metal wolf.

A HiMe for an Otome.

A Child in exchange for a Robe.

And despite all of the very many things that Duran was, he was not a little butterfly. Duran did not pitter-patter softly into the wind.

It does not take much effort to picture what happens when such a beast steps into the world.

There would be no soft misdirection of miniscule air currents, no gentle ripples reflected across the pond.

Instead, just the sounds of heavy artillery firing:

**BLAM. BLAM. BLAM.**

And the craters left in its wake.

With a single switch, the path of Earl's future had been altered irrevocably. Changes were taking place that could not be ignored, changes that were far more important than any silly twister.

And if one were to ask how exactly how this was happening, then look no further than the plight of one Tomoe Marguerite.

* * *

ch 6

* * *

Tomoe was in heaven.

No worries. Nothing at all to bother her.

Everything was right here at her fingertips: everything she needed, everything that she would need in the future, everything that she wanted right now. To have all that one wants; it is somewhat futile to try and describe what simple unadulterated bliss was.

Tomoe cooed. Everything was as it should be, as it deserved to be. And everything _was_ perfect, until the room exploded in her face.

The first feeling was that of a particularly large chunk of concrete hitting her square between the eyes.

The second was fear, not that Tomoe would ever admit to it.

And the root of that fear came from across the room.

True, the giant glowing red eyes of mechanical wolf were disturbing, but it was the other set that frightened her. Angry emerald eyes. Those were the ones. Those eyes, they possessed killing intent, a killing intent so fierce that it made even Tomoe flinch backwards.

Her head still rung from the impact of concrete against bone, but Tomoe did her best to survey the situation. The world was sluggish and slow, her reactions dull and muted.

Like something out of a nightmare.

Behind her:

Shizuru saying something sly, but at the same time looking relieved as well.

In front of her:

"DURAN, DO SOMETHING!" a young voice similar to the Gakuenchou filled with desperation and anger.

And then:

Her prize slipping away with the blasted wolf and those angry, angry, eyes.

Tomoe felt a pang in her black-little-heart. Was it that easy to take something that she had worked so hard for?

Her thought was cut short as the room was devastated by a hail of ice, the deadly sharp shards cutting through everything like piano wire through a rotten banana.

All of these shards were here presumably to kill her.

Tomoe was rather impressed in a way.

Surreal and dreamlike, the ice crystals and flying debris whipped past her, coming close to chopping her to bits, but never quite succeeding. The following moments were a blur as her survival defied all odds, but even that wasn't enough. An explosion came from below her, perhaps the result of an ice shard hitting the old furnace of the building in just the right way, and as the delayed explosion sent her rocketing past in the wind, Tomoe couldn't help but wonder:

_Why was the world always against her?_

* * *

ch 6

* * *

Meanwhile, up high in the sky there was a plane. No really, it was a plane. Not a bird, or an otome, or falling cyborgs, it was just a plane.

And it was a brand new one too.

"So Captain, aren't you proud of this new baby?" His co-pilot smirked, "Just think, we can hit a frozen turkey head-on and the window-glass won't shatter!"

"I think you enjoy the field test reports a little too much." Takeda replied, before patting the brand new console protectively, "Besides the chances of someone chucking a frozen turkey at us at this altitude is pretty much zilch."

"Oh, come on. If we hit a bird in the air, we're guaranteed to not have the glass shatter on our faces horrifically. How can you not get impressed by that?"

"Pretty easily." Takeda scoffed. "And, that's rather morbid."

"Well then, mister," the man continued in a lower voice, "Do you want to do a low-roll? It's practically tradition in a new plane."

"Aw, come on," Takeda replied, "Don't tempt me like that. The last guy got canned for pulling that stunt."

"Well, it'd be perfectly safe. Just keep it steady and constant and you can easily get a stable single-G on the inside of the plane. The best part is that the people onboard won't even notice unless they look outside their windows!"

"And just how do we explain to the prince of Zipang not to look outside the window?"

"Simple, just don't say anything at all."

Takeda sighed.

"Sorry, but I'll have to pass." Takeda waved off the mischievous man, "Look, it took me months trying to get this promotion. I'm not going throw it away just because you want to have some fun.

"Oh so be it." The man gave a pout. "You might as well resume your duties as tour guide, since the sky's so clear today."

"You're right about it being clear." Takeda nodded looking at blue skies, "There's not a cloud in the sky."

"Have at it then."

Takeda laughed, before picking up the intercom. "Hello, this is your Captain speaking. We're currently crossing over into Garderobe airspace. As you all know Garderobe is an independent territory despite being located within Windbloom. Now if you look outside your win— GAHH!"

'_Whump'_

Takeda's eyes bulged. The intercom had been dropped in a panic.

There was something outside.

Something had hit the window, and that something certainly wasn't a frozen turkey against the cockpit window.

"It WORKS!" The co-pilot exclaimed excitedly. "Look at how the glass holds up! If this was one of the older models we would have been impaled by thousands of glass shards by now!"

"Don't sound so happy about this." Takeda placed a trembling hand on his head. "This is horrible."

"Oh god…" Takeda mumbled, as the thing just didn't disappear. "Oh god it's stuck. It's stuck on the windshield."

Takeda was feeling light headed.

"But, what the hell is it?" The co-pilot looked curiously at the pale flesh pressed up against the window. "It isn't a bird. I mean there's something green there too."

"For the love of—" Takeda shouted, "Use the god-damn wipers!"

His co-pilot searched frantically through the labyrinth of knobs and dials, hand floating over them as he tried to find the correct control. "It's never quite where you think it would be…" The co pilot trailed off.

"HURRY UP!" Takeda yelled, waving his arms in the air.

To his relief, his co-pilot had finally located the correct knob, and started up the blades that struggled against the weight of whatever it was on the cockpit window. Takeda squinted at the object as it was being slowly pushed off the screen. No. It couldn't be. Takeda squinted at it some more. His eyes widening at the realization—at the possibility of what it could be.

It finally fell off with a resounding _'plop'_.

"Was that—" Takeda looked at the marks that had been left behind on the windshield. "Was that what I think it was?"

A heavy silence.

"Takeda, your nose is bleeding."

* * *

ch 6

* * *

Later that day Takeda would find out that 11 other planes had reported similar circumstances, of a large mysterious object hitting the cockpit window.

Simply mystifying.

And to think, no one had bothered to take a picture.

* * *

ch 6

* * *

Juliet Nao Zheng had the distinct feeling that she was in trouble. Not only did the Gakuenchou decide to vanish before her very eyes, leaving her all by her lonesome in the middle of nowhere, but those Aries bastards weren't even stopping for her. It was going to be a long nasty trek in the desert that Nao did not want to pursue. For starters Nao simply didn't have enough water for the trip and by this point eating grilled snake was getting tiresome.

Nao wanted a ride _now_.

Looking at the horizon she spotted the familiar trail of dust. Yes, it was another truck! Though, she had to wonder why those trucks were the only traffic on this remote road.

Waiting for the truck to approach, Nao stuck out her thumb, and then posed seductively. No man could resist this. Her, the leader of the stripes! Posing just for them!

'_VRROOOM'_ went the truck, as it drove obliviously past her.

Nao coughed trying to get the dust out of her lungs, and then gave them the other finger.

That was the tenth truck that had passed her by. It was her sexy pose too, god damn it! What would she have to do to get a fucking ride? There was something wrong with these people. Were they _all_ gay?

Nao took out her frustrations on a rock, kicking it an impressive distance off in the horizon. To think, she had come so far just to get stuck out in the boonies. With the Gakuenchou gone, did Nao even want to go to Aries? In all likelihood, the best bet on her survival would be to find some rock and hide under it. Nao did not want to see the Bewitching Amethyst; it would just be too damn scary to find out what would happen.

Sighing, Nao resigned to look upwards at the sky. It was too hot to think about such depressing thoughts.

The sun was being oppressive and hot as ever, with not a cloud in the sky to give her respite from possible skin cancer.

_Oh, but what was that?_

There, out of the corner of her eye: a black silhouette against the sun. At this distance it was an unremarkable blob, but whatever it was, it was falling fast.

"A bird?" Nao asked herself, before shaking her head. That was stupid. No bird could be that ugly.

"A Plane?" Well, no. Nao didn't want to think about that one. She had no particular desire for a plane to fall on her face.

"Otome?" Nao bit her lip in thought. No one in her right mind would fall that fast, that far. Even the hot-headed Otome of Aries wouldn't pull a stupid trick like that.

As Nao pondered the possibilities, the shadow was getting larger and larger; suspiciously looking like it might just land on top of her.

Nao took another few calculated more calculated steps to her right. No, no, it'd probably be safer to sprint across the road.

Nao ran.

And then Nao heard a 'WHUMP'.

It was the sort of sound that a body makes while hitting the hot desert sands. Nao categorized it in her head for future use. Cautiously, tentatively, Nao approached the newly made crater on the side of the road. Peering over the sandy depression, Nao couldn't believe her eyes.

_Fuck_, it _was _an Otome.

A naked Otome.

Nao squinted trying to make out who it was. Oh, well that was unexpected. Tomoe? The number two coral? And looking half dead, no less. Nao laughed nervously. Well looking back on previous events, weirder things had happened. If the Gakuenchou could disappear for no reason, then why couldn't Tomoe fall from the sky like an idiot?

Nao picked up a handy stick nearby just in case. Tomoe was probably alive, but Nao just didn't like touching dead people. It was disgusting. There was just something wrong about touching the dead.

Nao poked her quarry with a stick and frowned as Tomoe just limply moved along with movement.

Ugh, she was dead, dead, dead.

Nao shuddered. Great, now she had to bury her. Nao kicked a rock at her.

Tomoe twitched at the impact, making Nao jump backward.

Were these death spasms?

Nao kicked another rock, a little bit more gently this time.

Tomoe twitched again before rolling over on her other side.

Taking a deep breath, Nao looked down at the crater. Maybe the girl _was_ alive after all.

"Oi, you still alive?" Nao asked, before poking her with the stick. "What happened?"

Tomoe lifted a hand feebly. "a….giant…fucking…wolf."

"Hmm." Nao paused trying to think of what the girl was trying to get across. Was it a code word for something? And that black gem on her ear. It was all very cryptic. Well at the very least she wouldn't have to deal with burying her.

But then again she now had to carry a wounded, naked person across the desert.

The rumble of yet another truck on the horizon broke her thoughts.

Perfect. This would kill two birds with one stone, her ticket out of the desert, and a way to avoid some very awkward stories.

But how to attract the truck? Nao thought about using her sexy pose again, but thought better of it. After all if it didn't work the first ten times, why on Earl would it work the eleventh try?

Surely they would stop for the wounded.

"Oi, we've got someone half-dead here!" Nao shouted out.

The trucked continued on its merry way.

"They're injured!" Nao paused. "Heavily Injured!"

The truck seemed to be speeding up.

"AND NAKED!" Nao screamed as the truck drove by.

A heavy foot slammed on the breaks. The screeches of tires against hot asphalt. The whine of the transmission being forcibly thrust in reverse.

Nao could only smile at her success.

Well she smiled for a good minute until she realized that the men that shuffled out of the trucks were carrying semi-automatic rifles.

What on Earl was this?

They raised their weapons, their guns making that distinctive clicking noise that Nao knew was the sound of safeties being unlocked.

Surrounded. She was completely surrounded.

"HALT. We are the border police of the Aries Republic! You're being arrested for indecent exposure and disturbing the public peace!"

Ah, so those Aries pricks wouldn't stop for anything less than full frontal nudity.

_Great._

* * *

ch 6

* * *

'Chink'

'Chink'

'Chink'

"That's it captain! You have to put your back into it!" Nagi encouraged while taking a sip out of his lemonade. "I can taste the daylight already!"

"Sir…" The captain said miserably. "Sir, I think I'm going to die."

"Just because you've been digging for twelve hours straight doesn't mean you're going to die!" Nagi said cheerfully. "However, this gun firing a bullet in your brain would do just the trick!"

"Uh, yessir." The man mumbled, putting his back into the swing.

"That's the spirit!"

The captain grimaced, before striking against the hard stone with his dingy little shovel. There was a sort of rhythm to this, of striking metal against stone. Frowning, the man tried to keep his spirits up, but it was a futile gesture. One way or another, the captain knew he was going to die down here.

By bullet or by shovel.

Oh how the mighty had fallen. The captain estimated that there was at least another ten feet of solid dirt and rock blocking his way. How could a single man get through all of this? At best all that he was doing was creating even larger dents on his pitiful shovel.

The captain swung.

'Chink'

'Chink'

'CRONG'

Looking above in confusion, the captain stopped in mid-strike. That didn't come from his shovel.

Seconds later, the ceiling buckled above him, the rush of air knocking him off his feet as the ceiling opened up.

It was a miracle! Light! Blessed Sunlight! The captain thought he was going to cry.

It hadn't been him. It hadn't been his pitiful shovel. There on the surface, though the captain couldn't see very well, it was the outline of a girl operating a crane. What a beautiful angel.

He could have proposed to her right on the spot.

"Hey, you okay down there?" Chie Hallard asked.

"Why, there is someone up there with common sense!" Nagi declared delightfully.

"Just wait a second; the girls are passing down a rope ladder." Chie added, shouting out some indistinct orders to those on the surface.

As she promised, the rope ladder fell in front of their faces. The duke scrambled excitedly upward with the captain following not far behind.

Panting on the surface, the captain looked at the world in wonder.

The world it was so beautiful. How did he not see it before? The world was just so—so fantastic! The air was so sweet! Oh, and the captain could not imagine how divine a hot shower would be right about now.

"Captain, could you just bend down for me please?" Nagi asked sweetly.

Sensing something dangerous about the act, the captain hesitated, but eventually complied all the same. The man leaned over.

With a grin, Nagi kicked him, and watched as the Captain tumbled back down into the deep hole.

"Whyyyyy?" The distant scream of a man falling to his doom.

Nagi ignored it.

The girls coughed at the scene.

"Now we're missing two aren't we?" Nagi said surveying the group around him. "But I have no doubt that Nina is with her dear father."

" Now all that's left is…" Nagi trailed off.

"Tomoe," Chie supplied.

"And she certainly isn't dead." Nagi said looking down at his ring. "The gems are all firmly in place, and I'm obviously still in one piece."

Nagi grinned deviously at them, "That girl is playing hookey. What a bad, bad, girl."

Nagi glanced over them, like a cat does with a mouse.

"Now girls, did you know that as your master I have several means of making sure you keep in line?" Nagi asked them. "I'm just pointing this out to you since the rest of the student body has just so ungraciously left."

"Without warning, too" Nagi said darkly.

"And this one in particular delivers a nasty electric shock," Nagi said, pulling out the remote. "Do you think she'll come out faster from the rubble if I were to press the button?"

* * *

ch 6

* * *

Yukino looked at Nao. "You have some explaining to do."

"Uh, yeah." Nao said nervously rubbing the back of her head. "It's a long story."

"And who is this other girl?" Haruka demanded, "And why is she spazzing?"

"Spasming," Yukino corrected automatically. "To be more precise, in this situation it would be called convulsing."

Nao looked over at the _convulsing_ girl.

Only recently clothed, and her broken arm set, Tomoe twitched on the floor uncontrollably.

"..Ma—ke, make it stop!" Tomoe stammered out. "MAaa-KE IT STOoo-OP!"

* * *

ch 6

* * *

"Is this thing broken?" Nagi said, while he rapidly pressed the button. It clicked solidly but it didn't seem to be doing anything.

"Um, sir." Chie broke into the conversation, "What if she's injured?"

Nagi laughed. He had forgotten about that possibility.

"Right, right, that is all very well Miss Hallard. Good point." Letting go of the button, Nagi placed his arms at his sides and took a breath of the sweet spring air.

"Now girls, regardless of our missing Valkyrie, our first priority is to find Nina Wang and her wayward Father."

"Yes that's right, you've got your orders, off with you then!" Nagi shooed them away. "And don't make me wait!" Nagi smiled waggling the remote.

* * *

End of Chapter

* * *

**Author's Note (ver 2.0):** Wow I have no idea why I released the last chapter so early like that. I guess this is what happens when I don't have a Beta yelling at me. Anyway, there haven't been any plot changes, but I got rid of some awkward parts and improved on the prose.

Have you ever played Nanaca crash? Tomoe got a really high score. ;) Yeah it's not very believable, but then again Tomoe is as hard to kill as a cockroach. I also figured Takeda would be a good enough character to use without making up another original one. Next chapter goes back to Aswad. Bwah, why is it so difficult to get all the characters to move to Cardair? Why? Move, plot move!


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7 – Awkward Explanations**

Desert ninjas, otome, cyborgs, nano-machines, and pint-sized leaders—this whole place was nuts.

Despite how much her brain kept on telling her that Earl wasn't real, Natsuki's senses weren't cooperating with her.

Dreams are vague. They're meant to be vague. You can breathe underwater, or fly in the sky, or fall from 20,000 feet and not feel a thing because you're dreaming. In a dream, the rules only hold so far. Water is wet because it should be. You breathe because you're supposed to. However, once the scene goes away and you're suddenly on a deserted desert island fighting off secret agents with coconuts, of course you forget the fact that a crazed monkey had splashed your face with a bucket of water. In a dream you don't have time to wonder why your shirt is now perfectly dry.

Dream logic only goes so far.

And sure, there were strange things going on in this dream. On this fictional planet of Earl there were little girls who could fly, an odd blue mockery of a star where the HiMe star had been, and eccentric people who looked too much like real people she knew, but dreams are meant to be odd and jumbled and incoherent.

Natsuki wasn't worried about that. She was worried about the aftereffects.

It was because she couldn't just blink this all away. She was here, still stuck in this place. A dreamer realizing that she is dreaming, and powerless to wake up.

Here, getting hit hurt. Her cheek still stung from that Mashiro-look alike slapping her. Below her, the rocks were hard and unforgiving, and so Natsuki's back was sore from trying to sleep on them. The damn words were still on her forehead, even though her dream-self would have wished it away with a thought. Here, in this dream that wasn't a dream, there were repercussions, _consequences_. Things lasted for more than an abrupt scene or two.

It was disturbing.

And Natsuki couldn't wake up.

But she couldn't sleep either.

It was a little ironic.

Natsuki was exhausted beyond belief in this dream that was not a dream. Between being sick, and summoning Duran, and then fighting a crazed Midori, Natsuki was tired.

Her body wanted rest.

However, the stupid beds in Aswad were made out of stone, and so Natsuki sighed and rolled over, only to find curious crimson eyes staring back at her.

"You can't sleep?"

It was a gentle voice, and for a moment Natsuki forgot that she was in a strange place, talking to a stranger with her friend's face.

"Yeah."

Shizuru pursed her lips, and spoke in a chiding manner, "It is not like Natsuki to miss out on sleep."

"I'm not your Natsuki."

"So it says," She laughed softly. "Then, would you mind telling me who you are?"

"Haven't I told you all this before?"

"You only spoke your name, while I explained this world and talked about the person I thought you were," Shizuru paused, "And then when I found out that you were not who I had hoped you would be, I asked again. It was then that I learned your family name and the fact that you were 17."

"And?" Natsuki questioned, before sitting up. It was impossible trying to get comfortable on the hard ground.

Shizuru sat up to face Natsuki. "Is that enough to know a person?"

"Enough for most," Natsuki replied.

"Ara, so this Natsuki is a private person too." Shizuru looked curiously at her. "Is it that bad to want to know more?"

"No." Natsuki shook her head, "But, you didn't ask."

"So, I'm asking now." Shizuru turned to face her, "Who are you?"

"Well, that's too philosophical to me." Natsuki rested her face against her propped up hand," I am who I am. You have to be more blunt sometimes Shizuru." Natsuki paused. "More direct."

"Okay then," Shizuru smiled warmly. "The most basic of basics: where do you come from?"

Natsuki felt a wave of nostalgia. It might have been the way she phrased it, or simply due to that voice and her sheer persistence, but the memories came back to her. How long had it been since her Shizuru had tried worming her way into Natsuki's private life?

The memory softened her voice, "I've traveled all over the world, but I've settled at a school called Fuuka Academy in a country called Japan."

"Japan?" Shizuru frowned, "I don't know of any country with that name."

"You called this planet Earl, right?" Natsuki paused, "Well, my planet is called Earth."

"That is a rather dull name," Shizuru said looking at the ground. "So, Natsuki is an alien?"

"Who knows?" Natsuki shrugged, "To me this is a dream that I can't wake up from."

"But then how did you get here?" Shizuru asked.

"I don't know." Natsuki answered, "How does one go from being asleep to being awake?" Natsuki frowned. "If I had to pin it down on anything, I blame the mayonnaise."

"The mayonnaise?"

"The bad mayonnaise that my Shizuru gave me," Natsuki said with dread.

"A terrible experience that Natsuki has gone through," Shizuru noted. "And are there Otome on your _Earth_?"

"None," Natsuki laughed, "Well none that I know of."

"But there are Slaves?"

Natsuki frowned at her, "Slavery has been abolished in most countries for some time now."

"Not in that sense." Shizuru paused, "That wolf, you called it…" Shizuru trailed off, "Duran, correct?"

Natsuki nodded.

"Was Duran not a Slave?" Shizuru tilted her head.

"That was a Child, not a Slave." Natsuki replied.

"A Child," Shizuru repeated slowly. "Is it the same, I wonder? Does Natsuki put her life on the line, when she calls this Duran?"

"Not quite," Natsuki said in a calculated manner, "A HiMe puts their most important person on the line. A parent, a sibling, a lover, a friend, whomever the person most important is to the HiMe at the time of summoning, is the person whose life would be lost if the Child were to be defeated." Natsuki rubbed her side absently. "The stronger the bond is the stronger the child and the worse the loss."

Shizuru's eyes widened for a moment, before her face returned to a normal calm.

"In many ways, it is worse than risking one's own life." Natsuki looked into those eyes that did not belong to Fujino.

"So, you are a HiMe then?" Shizuru said decisively. "Are there many of them?"

"There are supposed to be an appearance of 12 HiMe every 300 years, for the carnival."

"The carnival?"

"It is a long story that would best be left for another time."

Shizuru raised an eyebrow.

"Then, would it be too much to know who Natsuki's most important person is?"

"That's getting a bit personal there."

"You do not want to answer?"

Natsuki hesitated, conflicted on whether she should tell this woman, but those red eyes bore into her and Natsuki buckled under their weight.

"You can read can't you?"

Shizuru laughed. "I would have guessed that." Shizuru looked closer at the girl next to her. "Natsuki looks sad."

"I'm just tired." Natsuki waved a hand dismissively. "This whole place is crazy, and Midori didn't help at all."

"Ara, but you miss her don't you?" Shizuru prodded.

Natsuki didn't say anything, her lips pressed into a thin line.

"Oh, you're a terrible liar just like she used to be." Shizuru's grin widened.

"I'm just tired." Natsuki repeated.

"Tired," Shizuru said, "And so, why can't you sleep?"

"Can _you_ sleep on stone?"

"Of course."

"That's unnatural." Natsuki rubbed the ridge between her eyes. "No normal person would say yes to that."

"Well then, just rest on me." Shizuru offered.

"What?" Natsuki blurted out, as warm arms encircled her from behind.

How fast was that woman really?

"You can rest on me," Shizuru whispered into her ear, the voice as sweet as velvet, "Even if I am not the person you miss."

"No." Natsuki said sternly, while trying to push away the arms. "I'm fine. Just let go."

The arms didn't release her. "Stop being stubborn. Natsuki needs to sleep."

"It's fine. It's fine." Natsuki squirmed, "I can sleep on the stupid stone too."

"You would have done so already, if you could."

"I—" Natsuki hesitated. "I'll be fine."

The arms were wrapped protectively around her waist. Shizuru was warm. Natsuki tried to break free again, but her movements were sluggish and slow.

"Shhhh.." Shizuru hummed softly into her ear. "It is alright to rely on others."

"But—"

"It is alright," Shizuru cut her off. The voice was hypnotic and soothing, similar and yet different, "It is time for Natsuki to sleep."

Natsuki tried to turn away from the warmth behind her, but she was too tired, too slow.

"Shhh…" Shizuru cooed, halting Natsuki's movements. "Everything will be fine."

"This is stupid." Natsuki protested.

"It isn't."

_Why was she so warm? Why didn't she let go?_

"You're mean." Natsuki added.

"So, I am."

Shizuru was warm. It was tempting to not resist.

"Shhh…." Shizuru hummed.

She was going to complain some more, but Natsuki felt her eyes droop, heavier and heavier. It was a battle to keep her eyes open.

She was warm and Natsuki was tired, so tired. Why did this Shizuru have to smell the same too?

Natsuki relaxed and stopped her struggles against the arms that failed to let go.

_This was stupid, and this Shizuru was stupid too, everybody here was stu—_

And before she knew it, Natsuki slept, in this dream that was not a dream.

* * *

ch 7

* * *

Morning came quickly, for the majority of the night had been spent traveling on Duran and then arguing with the leader of Aswad.

Shizuru woke naturally with the first rays of light, as she did every day. The girl she held was still asleep, but Shizuru knew she needed the rest. This Natsuki, Shizuru reasoned, was just as strong and fragile as the Natsuki she knew.

Holding onto her like this was a little like holding onto an egg.

So Shizuru waited, listening to the sounds of Aswad as their inhabitants got ready for a new day. There were shuffling footsteps, the sounds of clanking pots and pans, the exits of people who left to gather materials in the desert. The city was awake and bustling.

Shizuru listened and waited, and then waited some more.

Then afternoon came and now Shizuru's legs were asleep.

Shizuru smirked; for all the trouble the girl had falling asleep she was terrible at waking up.

And Natsuki was drooling.

That was rather cute.

This Kuga Natsuki was still an enigma, but Shizuru was one step closer to understanding. She was a HiMe, someone special, one of twelve girls who could summon _children_. Natsuki's child, this Duran, possessed guns which were suspiciously similar to cannon of the Ice Silver Crystal. There was a high probably of a connection. Shizuru could almost taste it on the tip of her tongue, and this carnival, it had an ominous ring to it—a story worth pursing later, no doubt.

However, there were more pressing matters to take care of at the moment, for instance like getting some blood flow back into her legs.

Shizuru was stuck; she couldn't get up without waking and upsetting the girl.

A terrible thought crossed her mind. It was a little too devious. A little too tempting. She knew she shouldn't, but her conscience did not win. Shizuru waited until she heard a particular set of footsteps that were light and fast and always excited.

Ah, yes it was time for Natsuki to get up.

"Arika-chan, come over here" Shizuru called out, in her sing-song voice, "Arika-chan, I need you to do me a favor."

Shizuru waited, as the footsteps approached closer, she was patient in matters like this.

The cloth curtain was swept aside, and Shizuru could only smile as the girl blushed deeply at the sight of a sleeping Gakuenchou.

_Who wouldn't?_

"Shizuru-oneesama?" Arika asked tentatively.

"Ara, it appears this sleepy head needs a little help waking up," Shizuru motioned with her head, "Come closer, Arika-chan."

Arika obliged and waked closer, kneeling that so she was at eye-level with Shizuru.

"Lend me your ear," Shizuru added.

Arika nodded, and got closer to Shizuru, almost as if she was requesting permission to use her robe. There was a grin on Shizuru's face as she whispered the plan into Arika's ear.

Arika nodded at Shizuru, before quickly setting off on her next mission, the cloth curtain fluttering behind her at the speed she left.

As the girl's footfalls faded in the distance, Shizuru knew she forgot to tell Arika something.

Perhaps, it was the part about ducking?

* * *

ch 7

* * *

The sun was high in the sky, and Midori was irritated. If her plans had gone off correctly, she would have been in Cardair right now blowing up buildings and separating a particular ruler's head away from his ungrateful body.

That would have been fun.

But there was someone stopping her, someone with a stern look on her face, with her arms crossed persistently. Someone, who Midori hadn't expected to drop in on her, literally.

This wasn't the same as it was before.

_We aren't kids_, Midori frowned, _you can't intimidate me like you used to._

The woman scowled at her, but Midori kept a straight face.

"So." Yohko began.

That tone again.

"So." Midori replied back at her.

Midori grit her teeth. She had little patience for things like this.

Rad stood silently to the side, watching the proceedings, with his usual cool demeanor.

"You're still planning to do it aren't you?" Yohko voiced her complaint in angry tones, "Didn't you learn _anything_?"

"This, coming from a woman who abandoned her people." The hot retort steamed off Midori's lips. "As if have any right to mettle with our matters."

"Reito you—" Yohko started.

"Reito is _dead_," He spat, "I am Rad, a cyborg."

The words silenced her for a while, and she looked guiltily away. With a sigh, Yohko looked back at Midori, "And what do you have to gain from attacking Cardair?"

"To gain?" Midori grinned; the question was absurd. "It isn't so much of what we gain, but rather of that of what we lose. If Cardair can fool with Aswad, then any country can. We would be leaving ourselves open to attack. Aswad becomes just another soft, defenseless, prize for the taking if we did not bear our fangs. _You _should know that."

Yohko slammed a fist on the table, sending documents and plans fluttering to the floor. "Stop trying to separate things into black and white! It isn't always about being strong."

"Then, what about that school of yours?" Midori questioned, "That school which was taken in an instant. Wasn't it because you were all lulled into a false sense of security? With people in charge who think like you?"

"That isn't the same!" Yohko protested.

"And why not?" Midori questioned. "If you do not use your blades, they will become dull."

"You don't need to use your blades!" Yohko screamed, "Can't you ever solve anything without using your blasted blades?

"And how are you planning to retake that school of yours?" Midori looked at her curiously, "Flowers? A nice cup of hot tea?"

Yohko bit her lip, trying to think of an answer.

"Soft, you've become soft. Life outside of the desert has made you disgustingly soft." Midori chided her, "You can't save everyone." Midori paused. "You can never save everyone."

"I was looking, trying to find another way!" Yohko was sounding more and more desperate, "I was looking for a way without force!"

"Do they really give you that much time for your pet projects?" Midori asked, "Using their technology to help the enemy?"

"It isn't helping the enemy, if I was looking for a cure that would help people."

"I don't think they would see it the same way." Midori answered.

Yohko was getting angry; Midori could see it in her eyes.

"How could you know them?" Yohko pointed a finger at Midori.

"How can _you_ know them?" Midori pointed a finger back at her.

Yohko stepped forward and grabbed Midori by the shoulders, shaking her once to get her attention, "Everything has just been a game to you: a simple world of absolutes and futile notions of justice and honor," Yohko shook Midori again, "Killing people, killing others, since when did that become so easy for you? What happened to the little girl who wouldn't hurt a fly? What happened to the girl who refused to— "

"She too, died a long time ago." Midori cut her off, brushing the weaker woman's hands away from her shoulder, "She died a long time ago."

Yohko closed her mouth, her lips pressed into a hard line.

"I am a realist. I do what I must so I can survive. So Aswad can survive," Midori paused. "And you are just too naïve. Did you really have access to everything? Do you really think I would be so stupid to believe that they would let you do as you please just for the sake of some unimportant unfortunates? Those other countries couldn't care less if we all just rotted away." Midori laughed spitefully, "Why should Garderobe be any different?"

Yohko took a step back.

"Looking for another way," Midori scoffed, "Aren't you just trying to convince yourself that you didn't run away from this life," Midori paused. "From _us?_"

"I—" Yohko started, but she thought better of it. "Then why did you accept the Queen's offer? Why did you bother taking all those outsiders in?"

"It was a good deal." Midori replied, "And that Queen is weak. If she were to not comply, I would kill them all without mercy. That is the way of Aswad," Midori smiled, "That is exactly why I must go to Cardair and kill that foolish King."

"Rad, can't you say something?" Yohko looked pleadingly toward the dark cyborg.

"It is not my place to question the leader." Rad replied coolly.

" But—"

A scream pierced the meeting.

"MY EYE!—"

_What in blazes?_

* * *

ch 7

* * *

The scene once Midori entered the room was a little like this:

On the floor was that column, clutching her head, from what Midori guessed was a head butt.

The fake Gakuenchou was frothing at the mouth like a rabid dog, the foam bubbling suspiciously from her mouth. For a moment Midori did wonder if she had some sort of affliction. It didn't help at all that the fake Gakuenchou was chasing the coral student around in maddened fury.

And Arika, the coral in question who was desperately trying to not get caught, now sported a black eye.

Midori watched as the two ran around in circles around the column, the fake Gakuenchou dripping drool as she tried unsuccessfully to catch the younger girl.

Yohko picked up a discarded tube by the still column.

"Super Stomach Remedy! Now with triple effervescent action…" Yohko read from the tube.

"Arika-chan, you didn't put one of those into Gakuenchou's mouth did you?" Yohko asked, "Those are the emergency pills, they're concentrated—" Yohko paused, "You're meant to drop them into a barrel of water! She probably won't be able to stop, uh" Yohko hesitated, "frothing, for another hour."

The fake Gakuenchou who frothed at the mouth was unable to speak and resorted to shaking her fist at the culprits involved.

"But I was just—" Arika ran, huffing and dodging, "Shizuru-oneesama told me to do it!"

The fake Gakuenchou gave the column another kick before resuming her chase after Arika.

Without her robe, Arika couldn't successfully escape from the room. All of her previous attempts had been blocked by the Gakuenchou. If that Gakuenchou hadn't been drooling from the mouth like Cujo, it would have almost been an impressive display of physical prowess.

Of course these weren't normal circumstances.

Midori could only clutch at her head; this whole scene had left her speechless.

Idiots! Fools! Madwomen! _These_ were the people she had made a deal with.

* * *

End of Chapter

* * *

**Author's Note:** Is it just me, or do Shizuru's eyes seem more of a golden brown than red? Lazy coloring people at Sunrise?

Comments, questions, and criticisms are welcome as always. Flames are kind of fun too. ;)


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8 – Off to Cardiar**

Resisting the urge to fidget her arm in the sling, the unlucky coral glumly looked outside. Her shoulder was still sore from the recent abuse that it had been put through. It had all happened so fast. One moment she was falling at terminal velocity to her doom and the next some mad Aswad leader was holding her up single-handedly, with a sneer on her face.

The blistering wind.

The adrenaline pumping through her veins.

The uncertainty of survival.

Looking back on it, it had been quite the rush.

But that was gone and past, and now she was bored, bored, bored out of her mind.

There really wasn't much to do in the middle of the desert. Even though the cave was large enough to house all of the newcomers, the coral could almost feel the walls starting to close in on her. She was going stir-crazy in here.

At least observing the country had been a little interesting at first.

Aswad was composed of dirt and rock and lots of sand. Despite the frilly little postcards that she had seen in tourist shops that emphasized the beauty of the desert landscape, she wasn't impressed. After you've seen some sand dunes and rock formations, it all started looking the same. Really, dirt was dirt, and sand was sand and, yes, sure, if she squinted hard enough she could sort of make out what appeared to be a deformed version of shinso's face on the rock formation over-yonder.

Boring.

The people who lived here weren't much more interesting.

Most of them were busy with their day to day tasks of fetching water, and sewing clothes, and looking for food. The garb that they wore in the desert was a bit destitute, but very practical. There was also a twinge on their accent that she couldn't quite place. It all felt very foreign, and was a start contrast from the gleaming walls and lush gardens of Garderobe.

_Rural_ was the best word that came to mind.

A few of the students had offered to help with their daily chores, but with so many new arrivals the adults grew quickly tired of trying to show the girls the proper way of doing things. And in reality, with a population this small, its residents did not need to devote that much time in order to survive. With no agriculture, their needs were met through hunting and gathering. A single one of those Jabbar monsters could be used for weeks. But, really, what on Earl did they do with all the rest of their spare time? And where did the rest of the population disappear off to?

Perhaps some of these people liked hiding under rocks.

It was an enigma.

But then again it was just one of many for Aswad.

There was a few off the tip of her mind: like why they had such a primitive lifestyle if they held so much technology, or why they were slowly dying from some unknown illness, and most important of all: why they even bothered making beds if their beds were made out of _stone._

Of course, the adults here wouldn't bother answering such questions. She tried before, and all she got in answer was an open mouth, or an arched eyebrow, and in even one case a slap in the face.

The adults were a bit mean and closemouthed here.

Since they wouldn't tell her why, thinking uselessly about them wouldn't make her boredom disappear. And she _was_ bored.

There was always the option to go outside in the sand to play, but the sun was being oppressive and hot, and so it was not exactly the ideal thing to do.

Nothing, nothing to do.

The coral sighed, and gave up, flopping onto her back.

"You know, somehow I get the distinct feeling that we've been forgotten about."

It was a sentiment that the coral mostly voiced to herself, but soon found that the other girls nearby murmuring in agreement. Somehow she had sparked a conversation, but the coral was far too lazy to get back up and see who was doing the speaking. If the desert was good for anything, it would be for making her drowsy.

"Yeah, they haven't really told us what's going on at all."

"We haven't been able to get anything out of Yukariko-sensei or Miss Maria, either." Someone sighed. "The pearls don't know anything more than we do."

A laugh,"Miss Maria? As if, she would tell us anything, anyway."

The coral let the voices float over her mind while attention slipped in and out of focus. She was never very good at listening anyway, and if she kept on lying down like this in the warm heat the coral was sure to fall asleep.

"—that wasn't the Gakuenchou?"

"How could it be with that wolf?"

"The wolf? Please don't talk about it."

"Stop, I'm going to cry just thinking about it."

A voice dripped with dread, "—I don't think I can fly again."

The coral found her eyelids getting heavier.

"Gakuenchou and Shizuru-oneesama have been in there an awfully long time."

"Well, at least the screaming stopped a while ago."

"But, what exactly do you think they're doing in there?"

"Heeey," a voice drew out the word, "You wanna bet?"

Her ears caught snippets of the conversation that made the coral roll her eyes. Couldn't her classmates think of anything else?

T_his place really was boring._

And with that last thought the coral went back to sleep.

* * *

ch 8

* * *

Behind those closed curtains an aura of impending doom wafted in the air.

It was there for good reason.

Waking up to an extra concentrated _Super Stomach Remedy_ pill being jammed down one's throat had rightfully earned a place on Natsuki's top-ten-list of most traumatic experiences. It started out innocently enough, the triple effervescent action had cleared up her sinuses, but then the bubbling had continued relentlessly. It wasn't long before the chemical reaction got out of control with too much foam in her normal-sized mouth, and so she had drooled, the foam having no better place to go but past her lips like a very angry, very rabid dog.

Now, even if she wasn't a foaming at the mouth like a rabid dog at the moment, Natsuki was still very, very, angry.

"Now Arika Yumemiya, was it?" Natsuki began; her hand locked in a death grip around the younger girl's shoulder. "You do know that was wrong to say shove pills down an _unconscious_ person's throat?" Natsuki asked, "_Right?_"

Arika flinched, as Natsuki full well knew the girl should. Waking up so abruptly like that made Natsuki attack her assailant without first checking _who_ it actually was. It had not been intentional, but Natsuki had landed a solid hit on Arika's face and as a result the girl now sported a black eye.

Natsuki scoffed at herself; well it was really the girl's own damn fault.

"_Right_?" Natsuki repeated.

Arika hesitated, her hands clutching the folds of her dress nervously, as she looked guiltily at the ground. "But Shizuru-oneesama told me to do it."

Natsuki sighed. "And if Shizuru-_oneesama _asked you to jump off a bridge would you do it?"

"Of course!" Arika happily replied; the tension of moment lost in an instant.

The infectious, giddy, nature of Arika's voice made Natsuki blink vacantly. There was something wrong about this girl. Was something not quite wired correctly up there? Or perhaps, there was just something wrong about this whole world. Did all of these people not have a lick of common sense in them?

Natsuki let the pause grow, as she determined a way for girl to understand. Well if there really could be such a way.

"Arika, there are—" Natsuki paused. "There are certain things you mustn't do. Common courtesies. Things that, people with any grain of common sense, would not do."

"But, Shizuru-oneesama said your tummy hurt!"

Natsuki felt a vein pop.

"People DO NOT shove random medicines down other's throats."

"But, grandma always said that you have to take good care of sick people. "

"How does that count as taking GOOD care of sick people?"

"But…" The girl paused, "But I…"

Arika looked downwards. She was no doubt welling up a bit, making puppy dog eyes, while she trembled lightly under Natsuki's grip. Why was this stupid girl making Natsuki feel guilty? This was a hopeless cause. The girl really had no malicious intent, but she completely lacked any sort of sense.

Natsuki sighed and loosened up her grip. In a calmer voice she asked, "You won't ever do that again, right?"

"Um…" The girl was hesitating.

"Just say it." Natsuki demanded.

"I won't ever do that again." Arika mumbled. "Probably."

Hopeless. Absolutely hopeless. Her attacker was as innocent as the mallet that some psychopath uses to bludgeon his victims with, and she was just as dense as well. Natsuki couldn't put any blame on the girl.

Natsuki let out another sigh.

"You can go now." Natsuki waved the girl off.

Arika paused in hesitation, before the realization that she was free hit her mind. She bolted away from Natsuki and sent the curtains fluttering in her wake. Natsuki barely had a moment to breathe, before the girl returned abruptly, bowed deeply and then ran away again.

_What an odd little girl._

Natsuki turned around. Of course, if the girl was not at fault then all of the blame rested with Shizuru. Her culprit stood there smiling all the same, with an entirely unreadable expression on her face. As far as Natsuki could tell, Shizuru was entirely unmoved by what Natsuki had gone through to catch and scold Arika.

"And as for you," Natsuki pointed a finger at the Bewitching Amethyst. "You're in deep, deep trouble."

"_Ara, ara_."

Shizuru's tone made Natsuki freeze.

Why did she sound so damn happy about it?

* * *

ch 8

* * *

"Shizuru."

Natsuki was angry. Shizuru could tell it instantly with that tone. It was gruffer, harsher than her Natsuki, but still it was welcome. To her ears, it was sweeter than any melody. Oh, how Shizuru missed that voice.

And an angry Natsuki was always fun to play with.

"Oi, are you listening to me?" Natsuki frowned, waving a piece of paper in front of Shizuru's face. "Sign it."

The paper that was being furiously waved in front of her face came close to grazing her cheek. Shizuru snatched the offending piece of paper with her right hand.

"What is this?" Shizuru asked.

"A contract." Natsuki answered.

"Ara, a contract?"

Shizuru's mind raced at the possibilities. In their world was this like a contract between Master and Otome?

"A contract."Natsuki did not elaborate further.

Shizuru simply glanced down at the document. It was a bit wrinkled now, as if it had been thrown around in a tussle and then forcibly shoved into a jacket pocket. If Natsuki did not explain it any further, she would have no alternative but to figure it out herself.

The document itself was no more than a long list of rules. The rules themselves made no particular sense to Shizuru. There were descriptions about proper definitions of personal space, and then some peculiar lines about negi, and hitchhiking, and lingerie. Her eyes quickly skimmed through the list, before a hastily added line caught her eye. There, near the bottom of the page, was an addendum about medicines and a sleeping sub-clause.

Shizuru stifled a laugh as she made the connection.

Indeed if she were Fujino what would she do in this situation?

Shizuru looked up, with a mischievous glint in her eyes, and found herself looking at the top of Natsuki's face. Somehow, the girl had managed to find another piece of cloth to wrap around her forehead.

Yes, what could Fujino do? Or, rather, what did Fujino already do?

Natsuki looked uneasy under Shizuru's gaze. "Would you just sign it?"

"Sign it," Shizuru said seductively, "like your Shizuru did?"

Natsuki blanched. "On the paper, of course."

"And you would trust me, to do so?"

Natsuki nodded nervously.

"Ara, I am honored then." Shizuru said, as she took the offered pen.

Signing would be a present. After all, that document did give Shizuru some very interesting ideas for when she finally met with _her_ Natsuki.

Shizuru deftly signed her signature at the bottom, and returned the document to Natsuki.

"That's weird." Natsuki could help but grin looking at the signature at the bottom. "It's exactly the same."

Natsuki was grinning a little too much.

Shizuru arched an eyebrow at the comment. Now, what was this Natsuki plotting?

* * *

ch 8

* * *

And so here they were again.

Not talking to each other. Not doing anything productive. Nothing but plotting, thinking, and brooding.

Yohko knew why Midori was so intently staring at reformed battle plans and uncounted maps of terrain.

It could only be for one thing: Cardair and revenge.

Midori had a very strong sense of justice, but that justice was fine and narrow. Her people admired her for being strong and resolute, but at the same time the woman couldn't wrap her head around exceptions and special circumstances. It was either this or that; action or inaction, and Yohko knew that one day that that misguided sense would be the end of her.

So, here she was trying to convince a boulder not to roll off the mountain to crush the angry peons below.

It was a rather futile to do so, but Yohko still had to try.

Yohko stood in the conference room, her arms crossed as she waited for someone to bring up the subject.

Yohko waited some more.

Time passed, and then moments passed into minutes, then minutes into an unbearable stretch of time, whose silence created such tight tension in the air that Yohko might have choked on it.

Yohko frowned. This was stupid. Midori was being too stubborn.

"That look on your face," Yohko said scrutinizing Midori's expression, "You're not regretting taking them in, are you?"

"Hmmph," Midori replied, her face slipping into a grimace at the thought of the guests.

Yohko laughed.

"Fools, acting like fools, does not change a thing." Midori quipped, drawing her eyes off of the plans in front of her. She turned to face Yohko with a smirk on her face, "I do not see how you get along with them."

"Patience and practice, but besides that," Yohko started, "We did not have a chance to finish discussing—"

"There isn't anything to discuss." Midori cut her off, her voice returning back to business.

So quick, Yohko noted to herself. "You still won't listen to a word I say will you?"

Midori glanced down and Yohko followed her gaze to see what she was so fixated on. It was that green r.e.m—that gem imitation that allowed Midori to have strength that rivaled an Otome. It was a flawed technology; the nanomachines in her body were continuously activated so Midori would not age a day past 17.

Was it really power or was it a curse?

"We're going to Cardair and that's final." Midori's harsh voice broke Yohko out of her thoughts.

Yohko took in a sharp intake of air, and calmed herself. Midori was just being Midori after all. Two could play at this game.

"Even, if leaving leaves you open to attack?"

Midori scoffed, as if it was the most absurd thought she had heard of. "It has been considered and taken care of. Our people can handle it, especially when the attack will be brief."

Yohko's eyes narrowed. "Even, if there are strangers in your land?"

"The fools would not be a problem." Midori replied, her patience wearing thin.

"And after that display yesterday?"

"All the more reason not to be scared of them." Midori grunted. "Without their robes, they are nothing."

Midori looked at Yohko smugly, as if she had just won the argument then and there. Yohko sighed.

There was one last card to play.

"Even, if I ask you not to?" Yohko let the question roll slowly off her tongue.

Midori gave her a predatory grin. "Not. Even. Then."

_Stupid and simpleminded to the last._

There was no helping it. Midori was an idiot.

"I'm going with you." Yohko stated.

It was not a request.

* * *

ch 8

* * *

It was an hour later before Midori was satisfied with her preparations. The change in timing had forced her to reschedule duties around the base in addition to thinking of additional fallback strategies. Every moment that she was here, was another moment for Cardair to reinforce its defenses.

And so she had to hurry.

Midori took one last look at Aswad before she departed.

It was strange to see her home filled with so many strangers, but they were mostly harmless. A good number of them were injured and the others who had potential to do harm like that fake Gakuenchou were too stupid to do so. Really, it was ironic how useless those girls were without activated gems.

Yes, Aswad would be safe while she was gone.

"Rad, Lumen, Gal, Dyne!" Midori called out. "We're leaving."

The cyborgs nodded at her, falling into step behind their leader, the familiar footsteps gracing her ears, strong and steady against the rocks and sand, but there was something else there too, the sound of light determined footsteps, and Midori could feel her face turning into a grimace.

Yohko was still following her like a chick that imprinted on the wrong animal.

_Good lord woman._

"Stop following me, you're not going." Midori spoke without turning around.

"I am going." Yohko said firmly.

"I don't carry around dead weight." Midori told her, "Aswad doesn't carry around dead weight."

"I know," Yohko replied, "But I'm still going."

Midori sped up her pace as if that action, by itself, would dissuade the other woman, "Then tell me, how you are going to Cardair without our help?"

"I'm sure the Gakuenchou would be happy to ferry me across." Yohko said opportunely plucking Natsuki out of the crowd as she walked past. "That wolf of hers will take us to Cardair."

"Wh--What?" asked Natsuki, trying to shake off the hand that had grabbed her by the collar. "Where are we going?"

No one answered her.

"But what of duty? Or is even that lesson lost on you?" Midori jabbed, "What about those students of yours? Will you just abandon them here?"

"Oi," Natsuki tried to break into the tense conversation whist being pulled backwards, "Why am I being dragged along like this? Stop walking so damn fast."

"Miss Maria can look after the children." Yohko replied.

"So, you pass your duty onto others." Midori sneered, "It seems that is a common pattern with you."

"Hello?" asked Natsuki.

Yohko and Midori just glared at her for a moment.

"Fine, fine, I'll just shut up while you talk." Natsuki's voice dripped with sarcasm. "Because we all know it's such a lovely day to walk in the middle of the desert."

"Is it wrong of me to want to stop a friend from making a mistake?" Yohko asked her seriously.

Midori halted her movements, her retort halted on the tip of her tongue. All of this was ridiculous, and now yet another fool was coming.

Out of the corner of her eye, that column had almost caught up with them.

Midori sighed. Was it really too much to ask for her to go out and usurp some King in peace? Really, she was just asking for was a few days to set a kingdom back in place. All Midori wanted was to blow it up a little, kill its leader and then return home.

Was that too much to ask? To do something like that, _alone_?

"Ara, that was rather rude, taking Natsuki like that." Shizuru commented, removing Yohko's hand off of Natsuki's collar.

"_Rude?_" Natsuki muttered to herself, "Everyone is _crazy_ here."

Shizuru patted Natsuki on the head, in sympathy.

"Quit that." Natsuki said, swatting away the hand.

Shizuru smiled and desisted. "Now, what's all this about?" Shizuru asked in all seriousness.

"None of your business," answered Midori. "Nor yours either." Midori directed the comment toward Yohko.

Midori brought out a small spherical object between her fingers.

"Leave me alone. We're leaving and you're not going. You should be happy I haven't cut all of you fools down yet." Midori turned away, "Let's go gentlemen."

"Midori…" Yohko whispered.

"Come out, GAKUTENOU!" The sphere was thrown up high in the air, and Midori grinned as the vortex appeared. Gakutenou took its time, the red and gold creature emerging impossibly from thin air. Midori would never tire of watching this, her instrument for change; it was so powerful, so deadly, and so very loyal.

And she liked that last part about it the best.

As Gakutenou was drawn forth from the vortex, its shrill cry cut off any more arguments that had begun to form on the tips of their tongues.

Midori leaped up with the cyborgs following close behind. Gakutenou was ready this time, and willing, there would be no more blue-haired witches to ruin her day.

"Do not follow, or I _will_ cut you down." Midori threatened.

"Until next time ladies," Rad added waving at them.

"To Cardair!" Midori called out.

And then Midori braced herself as Gakutenou accelerated, flying into the sky with incredible speed, and watched as Aswad, and her ungrateful guests zoomed by until they were nothing more than specs in the horizon. Yes, this was the feeling: with the wind in her hair and Gakutenou beneath her. Everything was in unison, and everything was in its place, and everything just felt right.

Midori took a deep breath in contentment. Finally, some peace and quiet.

She gained some more altitude, for there was hardly any cloud cover here. It would be best if their approach went undetected. Cardair, while foolish, could not be underestimated.

Oh, but Midori was sure that she would get the best of them. No one could get away with slighting Aswad. No one.

"Leader!" Rad's voice snapped her back to attention.

Midori felt a wave of dread pass over her. She took a deep breath and looked behind her.

_Again?_

And it was them.

That blasted wolf was following them, the beast leaving an icy trail of air in its wake. On top of the creature was Yohko, that fake Gakuenchou, and the column.

The three fools.

Really, Midori had been calm. She had been patient. She had given numerous warnings. And still they had not listened at all.

Was it too much to ask for a little respect?

Midori clenched her jaw. She was really going to kill them this time.

* * *

End of Chapter

* * *

**Author's Note: **A somewhat boring and disjointed chapter, but that should hopefully be remedied in the next chapter, which will have some more action and explosions and the like.

Also, if you're wondering who the coral is, she's just some original background character that I wrote in so I wouldn't have to research some obscure character that really only has one line. She probably won't show up again.

Comments, Questions, and Criticisms are welcome as always.


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9 – Collateral Damage**

Here she was again, stuck in yet another ridiculous situation.

This place was real, Natsuki couldn't deny that anymore. But even so, she still held on to the thin hope that with just another blink of the eye, she'd be back at home, in normal and sane surroundings. Sure, there would have been Sakomizu to deal with and Shizuru's persistent advances, but those were familiar, almost welcome things. If she could just wake up and realize that everything really was a dream, it'd just be something to laugh about—a weird sort of Mayo trip gone bad.

But no. Life wasn't that kind.

And so she watched the proceedings, with a detached sort of amusement.

Midori threw the sphere high into the air—just a tiny glint against blue skies—before the chain reaction threw the world into disarray. Pink particles gathered rapidly at center of the sphere, escalating in intensity until the energy exploded in a blinding crimson haze. The light show abruptly vanished and in its place was a black vortex that swirled ominously in the daylight.

All of this was a little like watching someone cut out a hole of ice for some Arctic fishing, except for the fact that the sky wasn't ice and general agreed assumption that normal people shouldn't be able to create singularities in space-time continuum. The hole in question was _flat_, but at the same time it wasn't just an empty void or simply a solid disk. There was something on the other side. Natsuki couldn't make out just _what_ that was because of all the arcing electricity, but she knew Midori must have created it for a reason.

And so, when Natuski caught a glimpse of a bright red and a gleaming gold emerge from the unstable portal, she found herself mesmerized by the sight.

It was Gakuentou.

This was not a normal summoning. HiMes called their children into existence from photons, the almost infinitesimally small bundles of electromagnetic energy that composed all light. Where a HiMe would call forth her child from the very energy of the universe, this was entirely different. Gakutenou was already fully formed. Midori's child wasn't being created, it was being _called_. This vortex was like a bridge, a gap linking this world to some other place. It was almost as if the child was being borrowed—like it never really belonged here in the first place.

_Just like how she didn't belong here._

With its entrance complete, the metallic beast let out a shrill cry that pierced their skulls. The sound made Natsuki wince, and in that moment between having her eyes closed and her eyes open, she felt the rather violent burst of air and debris that marked Midori's sudden departure. Natsuki spit out a mouthful of sand before trying to calm her hair that was snaking wildly every which way in the wind.

Really, why did Midori have to be so dramatic?

Raising a hand to shield her eyes from the afternoon sun, Natsuki's eyes followed the child that had rudely left. Watching its progress wasn't difficult because even in the daylight the child gave off a trail of—well, magical sparkles. It wasn't long before Gakutenou puffed out a larger cloud of glittering particles that sent the creature dashing off at ridiculous speeds into the horizon.

Natsuki shook her head briefly and felt some more sand slip away from her locks, letting a brief sigh escape her lips. There was going to be sand stuck in her clothing and hair until she could find a decent place to wash, but she would just have to deal with it in the meantime.

There was no helping that.

With a yawn, Natsuki stretched out her limbs, catlike, before turning around to face Yohko and Shizuru.

"Well, that was a waste of time." Natsuki said sarcastically.

"Perhaps Midori was just trying to say farewell?" Shizuru suggested.

"That's doubtful."

The sound of a growling stomach cut though the air. It took Natsuki a while to figure out that the sound had come from none other than herself. Thinking back on it, Natsuki realized she hadn't had anything to eat all day. "So, what's for dinner?"

"I think it's Jabbar liver tonight." Shizuru helpfully answered.

"Jabbar," Natsuki started, "That's like chicken, right?"

"Not exactly." Shizuru said with a grin.

"So, more like a cow?"

"Not that either." Shizuru paused. "It doesn't even have a scientific classification. I suspect they got a little confused as its outsides are made of rock, and it uses magma to digest its prey."

Natsuki stared at her dumbly.

"It is tasty, though." Shizuru added.

"Um…" Natsuki trailed off, "I'll just take your word for it."

So, mystery meat it was then, _extreme_ mystery meat, but hungry was hungry.

Natsuki looked over to Yohko who hadn't said a peep since Midori's takeoff. Yohko's gaze was firmly fixed off into horizon, her mind clearly elsewhere. Natsuki didn't think too much of it, as she knew the doctor could get rather lost in her thoughts. With a mental shrug, Natsuki stepped off toward the cave.

"W-Wait!" Yohko said, recovering from her stupor. "Where are you going? Aren't you going to stop Midori?"

"Food." Natsuki replied patting her stomach, "I'm starving."

"No. Food can wait. What are you doing? We have to go after her!" Yohko reflexively grabbed Natsuki's shoulder to stop her from walking away.

"Why should I?" Natsuki turned around to face Yohko. "She said she would murder us, you know."

Yohko gingerly let go of Natsuki's shoulder, her hands wandering back into her coat pockets, for lack of a better place to put them. "She wouldn't really do that." Yohko said softly.

"Well, if you hadn't noticed she _already_ tried, and her swords are rather _sharp._"

"Midori—" Yohko started, "Midori actually means well though she doesn't seem like the type."

"Right," Natsuki laughed a little, "But did I also mention that she's cranky ALL the time?"

"Her personality is rough, yes, but—"

Natsuki waved a hand off Yohko's half-hearted explanations, "Yeah, yeah, she's a real softie underneath all those layers of angry desert leader persona. Only, she'd have to kill you before you could see it."

"Stop joking around." Yohko said, getting more irate, "We have to stop her from attacking Cardair!"

Natsuki sighed. "If you hadn't noticed, I'm not your Gakuenchou and this is not my world. Would someone like to tell me what exactly is this 'Cardiar'?"

"Perhaps, it would be better for Natsuki to learn a bit about our geography," Shizuru suggested.

Shizuru kneeled down and began to draw in the sand.

"This here, is where we are presently," Shizuru started by drawing a circle, "Aswad, the land of angry degenerates."

"Shizuru…" Yohko warned.

"Aswad, the land of the semi-angry technologically wronged people," Shizuru corrected herself.

Yohko just shook her head.

Shizuru then drew an x below the circle. "To the South is Garderobe, and surrounding Garderobe is Windbloom." Shizuru drew a large circle around the x.

Natsuki looked over the symbols curiously. "So Garderobe is a country within a country?"

"I suppose you could call it that. Garderobe is an independent territory even though it is surrounded by Windbloom soil."

Natsuki nodded, "and is there any reason why Garderobe is an x?"

"Well, you did destroy most of it." Shizuru pointed out.

"Right," said Natsuki sheepishly.

Yohko just sighed.

"And there towards the East," Shizuru drew a three pronged crown to the right of the first circle, "is the Cardair Empire. The country is governed by three emperors, but in a more practical sense, the one who rules for the day is whoever sits on the throne first."

"_Really_?" Natsuki asked.

"—And the Emperors also have to fight for the single pair of royal underwear," Yohko's tone dripped with sarcasm. "No, of course it's _not _true. Stop trying to confuse her." Yohko said angrily.

"Hmm, yes Natsuki is rather gullible." Shizuru said with a smile.

"How am I supposed to know?" Natsuki protested, "This place doesn't make any sense in the first place!"

"To skip out on a long history lesson, Cardair is an old empire, old enough to have participated in the War of the Twelve Kingdoms. The empire can be unpleasant at times," Yohko explained, "but it also doesn't mean that Aswad should attack them."

"Ara, are you sure about that? From Midori's standpoint it would make sense for Aswad to retaliate. Cardair launched a raid against Aswad, with several people injured and technology stolen. Cardair broke their contract with Aswad, which if I last recalled correctly, is something that could easily be cause for war." Shizuru replied. "Or at least that's what I've gathered from the people here."

Natsuki nodded. "Yeah, it would be pretty reasonable to retaliate, I guess."

Yohko threw up her arms in frustration. "No! No, it's not! What's wrong with you two? We have to go and stop her!"

"Is there something you're not telling us?" Natsuki eyed the doctor.

"Of course not." Yohko said a bit too quickly.

_Curious_, but Natsuki let it go. The doctor probably had some horrific sob story from her childhood, maybe something about dead puppies, but Natsuki was much too hungry at the moment to care enough. Getting said food was looking to be more difficult. From the expression on Yohko's face it was pretty clear that the doctor wouldn't give up until they chased after Midori or until Natsuki died of starvation.

Natsuki turned her gaze over to the third party. Shizuru sported a neutral expression, her mouth curved with a slight smile. During the discussion she had showed no signs of favoring a chase or simply returning to the cave, but then again Natsuki was having a hard time trying reading this Shizuru. After all, one moment she was being _too_ nice and the next she was goading gullible children to shove unneeded medicines down Natsuki's throat.

"So, what do you think Shizuru? This is your planet after all, and filled with your crazies, no less."

"If we do chase the Aswad leader, it is your Duran that will do the flying," Shizuru paused, "And it is one of Garderobe's main functions is to prevent war. However, Cardair made a secret treaty with Aswad and then promptly broke it, which is suspicious to say the least. So, it is reasonable to assume that they are up to no good. Considering the current situation in Windbloom and Garderobe, it might just be better for Aswad to weaken Cardair."

"Always with the two-headed answer, huh Shizuru?" Natsuki shrugged. "Well you heard her doctor, I'm hungry, Shizuru can go with either action, and you're the only one that wants to stop Midori."

"So—" Yohko said exasperated. "So—you're not going to stop her because you're _hungry_?"

Natsuki said very seriously, "Eating is very important."

Yohko looked at her in shock.

"I'm kidding. Well, sort of." Natsuki trailed off into a nervous chuckle.

Yohko's eyes began to narrow, when no one made a move in either direction.

Natsuki escaped Yohko's piercing gaze by playing with her hair, and grimaced a bit when more sand fell out of it. A beat passed, and then several more which only served to deepen the silence into an uncomfortable pause. When Natsuki flicked up her eyes to look at the doctor she found that Yohko was still glaring at her. More and more Natsuki felt Yohko's gaze boring into her skull, as if she was the last piece of cheap meat at a supermarket special.

Natsuki laughed nervously. "You know, let's just flip a coin."

"A coin flip?" Yohko questioned.

"You're not familiar?"

"No—no I get that. But a _coin flip_?" Yohko repeated.

"Why not? I'm not informed enough to decide, so there's a fifty-fifty chance of me doing something stupid either way." Natsuki said coolly.

"But I—" Yohko started.

"Choose a side," Natsuki interrupted. She took a 5-yen coin out of her pocket.

"The side with the illustration of a plant." Yohko said hesitantly.

"It's rice," Natsuki explained, "You know, _normal_ food?"

Yohko didn't get it.

Natsuki sighed, "Anyway, here goes." Natsuki flipped the coin expertly in the air, the coin hovering for a split second, before landing on the back of her hand. Natsuki couldn't believe it.

"Crap."

Natsuki glared at the golden coin, before showing it to Yohko and Shizuru, "Well, doctor, it looks like we're chasing Midori."

"It seems that we're destined to get tangled up in the affairs of Aswad, doesn't it?" Shizuru commented.

"And," Natsuki said sadly, "Dinner will have to wait."

* * *

ch 9

* * *

The coral dreamt about dancing muffins.

Dozens of them floated on the table, switching off in pairs, swirling, twisting to some unnamed lullaby. She looked at them in envy, blueberry, banana nut, and chocolate, prancing about in 3-4 time.

They were too tempting.

She reached forward selecting one of the delectable delights, brought it close to her mouth, and closed her eyes in anticipation.

The coral bit down, expecting heaven, but—

It tasted like ice.

This was something different, something entirely not muffin-like. Goosebumps spread across her exposed skin.

_A chill in the desert?_

The coral's eyes fluttered open just in time to catch the faint silhouette of a giant wolf leaping into the air, a jump so high that it threatened to leap over the sun. The coral blinked groggily, and saw that the beast had transformed, legs taken away for flight. The wolf hovered in the air for a moment before rushing off into the distance, leaving behind only a faint trail of ice in its wake.

No one had noticed at all. Arika and Mashiro were playing in the corner, her classmates were blithely chatting in the corner, and Miss Maria was chasing down a delinquent Aswad child.

Everyone was so oblivious.

The coral frowned, slightly irked by the abandonment.

The least they could have done was take her with them.

This place was too _damn_ boring.

* * *

ch 9

* * *

Natsuki was getting cranky.

They really hadn't thought about supplies, or food or anything else for that matter. Yohko was scanning the skies mercilessly, while Shziuru took this all in as a pleasant joy ride, watching as clouds zipped by with the single blink of an eye.

They had been flying for thirty minutes now. Duran had sensed her urgency, her _nee_d, to quickly catch up with that crazed Aswad leader. He zoomed obediently through the skies, traveling at insane speeds that they had never dared fly before.

Natsuki wished this would all be over soon. Her stomach was already gnawing at itself, demanding food and sustenance.

It was a terrible truth, and Natsuki would never admit it to anyone, but her metabolism was so fast that if she wasn't careful enough her blood-sugar levels would crash. It would happen in steps. First she'd get irritable and snap too easily, then if she didn't still didn't eat she'd feel the pulsing illogical rage build at the back of the throat, and if she let it get past any further than that, all hell would break loose.

She tried not to do that. Natsuki hated losing control.

It was partly why she carried around her mayonnaise with her wherever she went. A little squirt of the stuff, and it helped to keep her head on her shoulders, to give her that extra boost she needed to stay alert. Besides it just tasted too damn good.

She wished she had some right now, preferably something store bought, to avoid future retching. A good bowl of instant ramen with mayonnaise sounded like heaven right now.

But no. This Earl was much too unkind.

Instead of sampling the local mystery meats, she was flying around in god-forsaken lala land, looking for that perpetually cranky Midori. She wasn't quite sure to make of the woman really. Would Midori have turned out this way if she had grown up in a desert wasteland, without her inspirational sentai shows?

Or was she just upset that she wasn't a magical girl in a land filled to the brim with them?

Maybe all of this was a bad idea after all. Natsuki didn't have any patience left, and really what was there to gain in trying to convince Midori to stop being _angry_?

Hunger cut into her thoughts.

Natsuki regretted flipping the coin a bit. She had thought it had been ingenious at first, a way to get Yohko off of her back without putting too much effort into it.

She hated complicated things, complicated feelings.

Do or do not.

Life was a lot simpler when that's all it was: to have a simple and direct goal, and to follow it blindly.

To find the truth.

To save the world.

To get some fucking ramen.

"Look, there they are!" Yohko pointed excitedly.

* * *

ch 9

* * *

Rad caught sight of the wolf.

"Leader!" He barked out a quick warning.

Rad watched as his leader's face turned into a scowl, her mouth open in hesitation, or was it shock that the Yohko would still follow her despite everything that had been said?

Midori grit her teeth together. A bad habit, but the leader's patience was wearing thin.

Maybe she was angry about the fact that Yohko never listened to her in the first place? Rad chuckled.

"Get rid of them." Midori said coldly, "We don't have time for this same old song and dance."

The cyborg was a little surprised at that response, but at the same time it was open to interpretation. Midori hadn't said to kill them after all.

Rad mulled over his options briefly.

It would be so ungentlemanly of him to attack while they had no powers. It lacked honor. It lacked finesse.

And it was Yohko.

But orders were orders.

"Gal, if you would." Rad motioned politely with his hand.

* * *

ch 9

* * *

Natsuki let out a sigh of relief once she caught a glimpse of Gakutenou. Now, it would only be a matter of time before they could head back and eat some food. Natsuki could almost taste it on the tip of her tongue.

Of course, Duran would need to catch up to them in order to get into speaking distance.

As she was about to shout a command to Duran, Natsuki watched in curiosity as one of the smaller cyborgs raised both of its hands together, an odd green light accumulating there in size and intensity.

Natsuki blinked— and then the bolt was let loose, an abnormal neon green against blue skies.

Shizuru roughly threw Natsuki to the ground when Natsuki just stood frozen, like a deer caught in headlights. Vaguely, as the world was turned sideways, Natsuki heard a faint _'ping'_ and the trace of fading green light in her peripheral vision.

It took a moment for Natsuki to realize just what had happened.

"WHAT THE FUCK?" screamed Natsuki as she recognized the smell of singed hair in the air.

"Ara, did we not tell Natsuki about what the Cyborgs could do?"

"No, you did not!" Natsuki protested. "What the hell was that? Laser beams? Energy attacks? This isn't some stupid anime!"

"Actually it's—"

Just as Natsuki was about to open her mouth to complain some more, Duran dipped abruptly to avoid the next volley of incoming shots.

Natsuki pushed herself back to a more comfortable position, the rage clearly building up at the back of her throat. "No more fucking explanations! DURAN, LOAD SIL—"

"Remember, we're trying to convince her not to attack Cardair." Yohko spoke up.

"But she's ATTACKING _US_!" Natsuki screamed.

"Alive, please?"

_The things she did for these people._

"DURAN, LOAD FLASH CARTRIDGE!"

"Ah." Yohko watched in apprehension, as the large bullets were loaded into place.

"FIRE!"

A pause.

The world exploded in a blinding flash of white.

"Cover your eyes!" And as the last words left her mouth, Natsuki realized that she had just said that out of order.

_Damn hunger._

* * *

ch 9

* * *

"How childish." Rad noted, before adjusting his sensors. That little flash bomb wouldn't do any damage to him or the others. They were cyborgs, not blood and flesh.

"They're giving our positions away. Did you ever think about that?" Midori snapped. "Get rid of them!"

Rad shook his head. Everyone had such a short fuse today.

"Gal, try aiming a little better. I'd rather not get on that wolf." Rad suggested. "A little more to the right, perhaps?"

Gal, merely nodded before letting loose another green volley.

* * *

ch 9

* * *

The warning had come far too late. Yohko was blinded.

"What's going on?" Yohko said quite alarmed.

"It is a bit chaotic at the moment." Shizuru calmly replied.

Natsuki was losing it. A single shot she could maybe forgive, but not fourteen.

They weren't warning shots either; if Duran hadn't been dodging they would have been blown to bits by now. Midori was out for blood, but what had Natsuki ever done to her? Really, all Natsuki wanted right now was to get some food. Nothing too fancy. Nothing too crazy. Was getting some ramen too much to ask for?

A wave of lightheadedness hit her, the world spinning in her vision, as her body moved clumsily in stop-motion quality. It was as if she was out of sync with this place. Detached. Natsuki looked onwards as more brilliant green bolts whizzed past them—time trickling past in a haze.

This world. This place. Her being here. Surreal and absurd, all of it.

Maybe she really was dreaming all of this? Natsuki liked the thought. She clung onto it, as she urged Duran to keep on reloading.

Her lightheadedness worked against the logic of her tactile senses: the feel of the wind, the rage and frustration that was building inside of her, the sounds of shots being fired and the scream of air whistling past her ears.

This world was it real? Was it false?

But who cared?

This place was crazy.

And she was hungry.

And that's all that mattered.

Natsuki found herself laughing maniacally, like some overrated villain on a Saturday Morning Cartoon show.

Natsuki closed her eyes in anticipation.

"DURAN, FIRE!"

The blinding shots rang out in rapid succession: bursts of brilliant, radiant, white that was visible for miles around.

* * *

ch 9

* * *

Cadet Cats nearly spit out his coffee when the sky was washed out by a flash of white, a light so bright that for a moment it eclipsed even the brilliance of the sun.

Curse it all. Things like this weren't supposed to happen here.

This was the border of the Cardiar Empire, surrounded by desert wasteland. Nothing interesting happened here except for the stray crossing coyote, or attempted illegal dumping. It was specifically why he had wanted his transfer to this station in the first place.

It was safe, and boring, and most of all it was peaceful.

He silently hoped that it was all just a horrible mistake, maybe the air division were just being jackasses and had dropped a blank, though Cats had to admit that he had never seen any training bomb of that caliber before.

Cats took another sip of his coffee as another round went off. Startled, Cats absent mindedly let the dark liquid go down the wrong pipe. He coughed and sputtered as the sky flashed white, not once, or twice, but continually in a clear and repeating pattern.

Those were not normal shots.

This was not an accident or a prank.

It was a message.

In the history of Earl and the many wars that had taken place on its soil, flares had been used as a means of communication between allies and foes alike. Before the introduction of the Otome-system, the signaling had become so complex that it contained not only the simple commands of surrender or retreat, but could arguably be classified as a full-fledged language in itself. It was archaic and ancient, but it was still drilled into all officers of the army, should they, in the very slim chance need to interpret the words of an enemy.

Cats silently watched the skies, waiting for the pattern to repeat.

"All. Your. Base." The Cadet squinted some more, trying to conjure up the correct symbols from the back of his mind, before losing the thread.

He let the flashes repeat again.

"All. Your. Base. Are." Cats hesitated, "Belong?"

"To. Us." He finally finished.

He strung the message together finally.

"All your base are belong to us!" Cats said excitedly; proud that he had remembered what he had thought to be mostly useless information.

Cats kept on grinning until he realized the meaning behind it.

_It was a declaration of war._

* * *

ch 9

* * *

Shizuru was getting a little worried. By now, it was obvious that the flash cartridges were not working, but Natsuki persistently fired them, and so Shizuru resigned to simply closing her eyes throughout the whole process.

As she felt Duran reloading between shots, she let her eyes open for a brief moment. Looking quickly downwards, she noticed that they were almost upon the Cardair capital. More importantly, the metal wolf had caught up enough with Gakutenou to be within shouting distance.

Shizuru nudged her blind companion. "Yohko, it may be wise to persuade Midori to stop. They're close enough now."

Yohko's vision hadn't quite recovered, but she could make the faint blob dead ahead.

"Don't attack Cardair!" Yohko yelled in the general direction of Midori.

"And why should I do such a thing?" Midori called out.

"Or I'll blow you to bits!" Natsuki answered for Yohko.

"No, that's not what—" Yohko tried to get out, but she was cut off by another green bolt sizzling past Natsuki's ear, the smell of fresh ozone in the air.

Natsuki snapped.

Shizuru watched as Natsuki's face contorted in rage. Ara, now that was a new face.

"DURAN, LOAD SILVER CARTRIDGE!"

As the familiar whine of giant bullets being loaded into the even larger gun reached Shizuru's ears, the column considered the political ramifications of Garderobe inadvertently attacking Cardair. In particular, a certain nagging thought floated to the surface of her mind.

_Perhaps, Natsuki should have been fed._

* * *

ch 9

* * *

"That isn't grammatically correct." The Captain frowned, "Have you been watching that Aries Otome again?"

"No, no" Cadet Cats spoke forcefully into the microphone, "I'm quite sure that's what the message said. _All your base are belong to us._ It repeated. _Three times_."

The Captain scowled over the video link, "Come now, Cadet, are you sure you haven't just been out too long in the sun?"

"It's clearly a declaration of war!" Cats protested, "And no I didn't dream it, I even took a picture."

Cats flashed the digital picture onto the screen.

"_That _looks like a picture of the sun." The Captain said, rubbing the ridge between his nose. "And, there's nothing on our sensors."

"But sir—"

"Go back to your duties and stop daydreaming."

"Sir!"

The Captain leaned forward to sever the link, but stopped when an impossibly sharp fragment of ice cut through the ceiling, giving way like a hot poker through wax. It landed but a foot away from him.

"By the gods--" The captain muttered. "TAKE OFF EVERY OTOME!"

And then the intercom cut out.

Cats quickly ran outside of his way-station to look toward the capital. His mouth hung agape.

The sky was raining ice, the deadly sharp shards, glittering like diamonds in the sun.

* * *

ch 9

* * *

Midori couldn't believe it. Those fools had followed her all the way out here, and for what? To annoy her? To pester her?

The flashes might have been a clever ruse to point out their position, but it appeared that Cardair's security was even more lax than she had guessed. The solders of Cardair were unobservant and weak. It was as if they had the nerve, the presumption, that they could never be attacked.

Crushing Cardair would be easier than she had ever dreamed of.

And so, Midori was only all the more confused when that fake Gakuenchou had switched her tactics. That blasted metal wolf was firing projectiles at her, ice, was Midori's best guess, but it was also ice that flew with such velocity and force that the potential damage it could cause was tremendous. To think, pacifists, using _deadly force_ to get their point across! They truly were idiots. It wasn't only that, the shards of ice that the metal wolf fired were indeed impressive and sharp, but they also had mass. Any shots that missed her would undoubtedly fall to the city below.

If anything, those fools were helping her attack Cardair. The collateral damage would be extensive. It almost made up for the fact that Arika had declined participating in the raid.

Midori smirked at the thought.

The Aswad leader gripped tightly onto Gakutenou as it avoided another silvery hail of ice with a deft swoop. The temperature dropped dangerously in passing, and Midori exhaled, watching her foggy breath slip past in the wind.

Now, if she positioned Gakutenou just so in front of the castle, she could get that fake Gakenchou to fire on that ungrateful Emperor himself.

Gakutenou swiftly complied with her wishes, swooping lower than the wolf, but still above the cloud cover. If she timed it just right the wolf would fire with a downwards angle, minimizing the chances of missing _Midori's_ target.

The wolf kept its altitude, as Midori expected. The beast reloaded and aimed once more at them, Midori holding her breath in anticipation of the strike.

She caught the first hint of the explosion, a glint of fire between those silvery barrels.

_Now!_

Gakutenou twisted sharply to the right and Midori laughed as the ice shards flew past harmlessly, cutting downwards though the cotton-candy clouds, travelling on and on, to what was, with any luck, the palace below. Grinning in satisfaction, Midori felt the rush of the attack course through her veins. It was a little like herding Jabbars that were slow and dumb and witless. They were dangerous, but only if you let your guard down.

Midori's triumph was short lived however, when hot lead screamed past them but a mere arm's span from Gakutenou's right flank.

"Leader!"

It had come from below and from the looks of it, it was anti-aircraft artillery. Ah, so the army was finally awake now, and that had only taken _how many_ shots?

"Go, below dispose of the trash below."Midori said, "Let me handle that fake Gakuenchou."

* * *

ch 9

* * *

Argos the 14th was having a very bad day.

His stomach churned acidly as the worry and stress built up in him. He paced in the throne room, clenching the folds of his royal garments in obvious distress and contemplated what few courses of action he had left to him.

Aswad was right at the front gates, breathing down the backs of their necks. Right and left, communication posts went down like dying canaries in a poisoned coal mine. There were scattered reports of ice shards raining down from the sky, but Argos wasn't too quick to believe that one.

Was this a new Aswad weapon? Something he had never conceived of? He had known of their capabilities, as he had thoroughly researched them before subsequently hired them. But this long range destructive power was something else. Aswad excelled at close range combat, not long range volleys. As long as he kept them at bay, he was supposed to have been safe.

But all of that didn't matter anymore. There were already here within striking distance.

If he got out of this alive, the first thing the he would do was skin those commanders in charge of this whole debacle. To let the enemy in, right past their noses, this was all too embarrassing!

The game had been carefully planned and coordinated, but the pieces had refused to budge. It had been an entirely reasonable operation, to hire Aswad and then to betray them. After all, who would want to work with such filth in the first place?

But Argos had planned on the Artai Principality to halt Aswad's actions. After all, Argos had so graciously leaked the location of the errant Queen of Windbloom. At the very least, that should have provided ample distraction while Cardair got on with its own business.

But no, that overbearing boy hadn't taken the bait—he hadn't moved at all. Argos couldn't understand the reasons of why the Duke would pass up such information, especially one with such an unhealthy obsession with Windbloom and its queen.

All of this was quite unseen.

And so, because the pieces hadn't moved, and those below him were too incompetent in their defense, Argos was backed in a corner, trying to fight for his life.

Unthinkable. Everything was backfiring.

There was only one option left.

She stood serenely by his side, her face not showing an ounce of worry, despite the chaos that was befalling the country. Argos looked toward her and she smiled politely back.

Fiar Grosse.

The power of the Otome. It was his last resort now.

* * *

ch 9

* * *

Natsuki mouth halted in mid-command, as the thought struck her suddenly.

_Why was she doing this?_

There were no more green bolts firing at her. The cyborgs had abruptly dropped off to fall to the land below, somehow oblivious to the danger of free-falling. The world was at a relative calm. Natsuki listened, and heard the sounds of the wind passing and faint rumbles of explosions beneath her.

Calm and peaceful enough for this world at least.

Why was she doing this? Natsuki was attacking because she was angry. And why was she angry? Maybe it had something to do about flying around in this queer place instead of being fed.

Natsuki was tired, dead tired. She wouldn't have minded passing out right then and there, or even better, to have been fed and then be given a chance to sleep. But there were still things to take care of. Natsuki sat down on Duran, trying to get a bead on what Midori would do next.

The pause in her attacks made her opponent hesitate as well. Gakutenou hovered steadily in the air, its master looked at her curiously, almost as if Midori was disappointed that Natsuki had stopped her attacks.

Noticing the still, Shizuru spoke up. "Perhaps we can now cease hostilities."

"I don't know what you had planned, but the time for discussion was over along ago. Regardless of your actions Cardair will fall." Midori responded.

"It's not like we had this planned out this way." Yohko shouted.

"Nor did I," said Midori with a smirk, "But things fell into their place anyway. Now all that is left is to deal with the final hurdle, and I'll be able to rid of the imbecile Emperor once and for all."

"Will doing this, make you happy?" Yohko asked, "What will it really change?

"And what use is a half-hearted blade?" Midori laughed, "Do you not think we've been sitting up here unnoticed? Do you really think that if I were to turn around right now, they would forgive as easily as you would?"

"It's…"

"Nothing is so simple, Yohko . People are not forgiving creatures. I am not forging." Midori spoke softly, "and speak of the devil, here she is."

The clouds parted abruptly, a charcoal blue and white streak in the sky. At her ankles and wrists, a yellow glowing light pulsed as the woman hovered, reminding Natsuki of Mai's element.

"She will not be forgiving, either." Midori added with finality.

"An Otome?" Natsuki said hesitantly.

"Yes." Shizuru answered.

"So, you are the ones attacking Cardair?" the woman demanded, looking over at them. "Bewitching Amethyst—Gakuenchou, I never expected this from you."

"We didn't expect this either." Shziuru said with a gentle smile.

"Enough of chatting with the riff-raff." Midori shouted, once more bringing the attention back to herself. "Otome, I will be your opponent! Prepare yourself!"

"Gladly," The woman said with a faint smile. The woman held out her hand, yellow particles gathering to form a lance whose tip was composed of bright yellow overlapping crescent moons.

"It is just me or does that weapon belong on a sentai show?" Natsuki muttered to herself.

"Whatever are you talking about Natsuki?" Shizuru asked.

"Never mind."

The Otome accelerated forward in a flash so quick that if Natsuki had blinked she would have missed it. Midori brought out her swords in a swift singular motion, and simply leaped over the charging Otome, the blurring grey mass blazed past the Aswad leader, only to halt and face Midori once more.

The Otome looked on at Midori with an amused expression. "You are better than I thought, but the outcome remains the same."

"I'll see about that." Midori grinned dangerously, "GAKUTENOU!"

The great beast roared, charging forward at a speed as fast, if not faster than the Otome's last attempt. Just as Natsuki thought the woman was going to be skewered on the tip of Gakutenou's nose, the Otome dodged, landing safely on top of Gakutenou.

The two stared at each other for a moment, reappraising the situation.

"Oh? Impressive," Midori complemented her, "But I always did enjoy hand-to-hand combat."

Midori ran forward, with the confidence of one who knew every single nook and cranny of the beast. The Otome stood her ground and the two met, blade against blade, as sparks flew. With the weapons in deadlock, the two struggled for power, one trying to push the other off of the beast. Finally Midori leapt backward, to try and get in a few quick swipes of the sword.

The woman dodged them, as Midori predicted, using the opportunity to come up from behind her to land a kick on the small of her back.

The Otome stumbled forward. It was the perfect chance.

"GAKUTENOU!"

The woman had made a fatal mistake of thinking that the beast was just some platform to battle on. Gakutenou's stinger lashed out, gold links swirling in a flash. The blade impaled her through the abdomen, making the Otome gasp out a startled wheeze.

"If you wish to avenge this, wait in the world of stars." Midori said coldly.

"You…" The Otome began.

Natsuki looked on in shock, as the woman began to vaporize away in bright golden particles. This was a scene she never wanted to watch again.

"Your Majesty!" The Otome screamed as she faded into the wind.

* * *

ch 9

* * *

Midori looked onward to the horizon. Now, all that was left now as to pick up her comrades and head back to Aswad.

"Checkmate." Midori said softly to herself.

Even if there had been some small hitches along the way, she had accomplished her main goal. Cardiar had paid in full, and now they knew the consequences of wronging Aswad. As for Yohko and the others, well they could fend for themselves now.

Midori turned away from the wolf and urged Gakutenou downwards through the clouds. With increasing unease, Midori frowned as the metallic beast felt less and less stable underneath her.

It was the feeling of dissipation.

Of abandonment.

It was the same exact sensation Midori felt whenever she severed the link between them, allowing Gakutenou to go back to where it came from, but Midori hadn't dismissed it.

She hadn't asked for it to return.

Why was it doing this now?

"Why, Gakutenou?" Midori asked.

It gave out a cry of what Midori thought sounded like regret, before the beast disappeared in a burst of brilliant green. Midori fell straight through the green particles, her hand outstretched as if Gakutenou would come back if she caught those waning green fireflies.

And so without anything to stop her, Midori dropped like a rock.

* * *

ch 9

* * *

Natsuki looked on morbid curiosity as Gakutenou disappeared in a flash of green. There was no reason for Gakutenou to be dismissed. Did Midori really think she could fly on her own?

"Midori!" Yohko said with alarm.

_Really, the things she did for these people._

"I'm on it."

Natsuki urged Duran to follow the now free-falling Midori, and they all spiraled downwards, wind blasting their faces, as they tried to catch up with the falling woman.

"Midori!" Natsuki called out. "Grab on!"

Midori grunted something noncommittal, but grasped onto Duran's right gun.

Good, now all Natsuki had to do was ease their trajectory, so they wouldn't all be thrown off of Duran. The wolf began to ease off, when Natsuki felt a snag in the air.

Natsuki wasn't sure quite how to describe it.

Whatever Duran hit, it was there, but it was also wasn't there. Pulling, tugging them in different directions. Eerily, a thick fog quickly engulfed them. Natsuki couldn't see more than an arm's length in front of her face. It was only a beat or two before the world shimmered, rippling, in a clearly unearthly way, and suddenly Natsuki realized that Duran was no longer underneath her.

Duran was gone.

They were all free falling now.

"THIS IS ALL YOUR FAULT!" screamed Midori.

"WHAT DID I DO?" Natsuki screamed back.

"Ara, ara," Shizuru added.

And as Natsuki lost consciousness, her last thought was why there was so much damn fog in the air.

* * *

ch 9

* * *

There was the sensation of ropes, and being dragged, and then being roughly dropped. Natsuki was having trouble focusing her vision.

"Mikoto what have you caught this time?"

A familiar voice.

Natsuki was vaguely aware of a shadow fell over them, ladle held out in contemplation.

"Mai…" Natsuki said weakly, "Feed me."

* * *

ch 9

* * *

**Author's Note**: If you didn't get the "All Your Base Are Belong To Us" joke, try searching youtube for the appropriate video. Bad translations are fun!

I couldn't find any concrete maps or general background informational of the countries in Earl, but I assume they're all relatively close to one another geographically. So please forgive any discrepancies you might find in the story. I just don't have access to those obscure art/fanbooks.

I also apologize if some of the sections are a bit rough, but I really just wanted to get this chapter out so I could focus on other things. Chances are rather high that I'll revise this chapter before the next chapter comes out.

Comments, Questions, and Criticisms are welcome as always.


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10 – Music Lessons (v2.5) **

Music.

It comes in all shapes and forms: from the melodic to the soulful, from a whisper to the earsplitting, but in the beginning—before there were electric guitars, or violins, or intelligent monkeys cooing off-key—there was a song that started everything.

It was a song that, once played, could shape things. It could make atoms dance, and send quarks spinning, and if it tried hard enough, the entire universe would sway to the beat. It was the sort of song that once started would never stop. It would play as stars formed, as planets cooled—as entire nations rose and fell. The song would play onwards and endlessly, regardless of whether anything sentient believed in it or not.

It had played. It was playing. It would _still_ play long after the universe went cold and dark.

And in the beginning when there wasn't much of anything but the promise of _something_—the song had started simply.

Like any good song, it began with a long, deep, pause.

There was silence, a complete silence…

Until, suddenly there was a—

**BANG!**

Now, it was a _BANG_ and a _CRASH_, and a _BOOM_, and everything loud and violent all packed into one incredibly tight package. The note roared in loudest, most intense fortissimo imaginable—pealing hot and bright across the blank staff of a dark and empty universe. As the very first note barreled through the bleakness, it began to distance itself. The note was unraveling, unpacking; the hidden layers flaking off, only to divide and change and expand. In what might have been a split-second, or a single blink, or an eternity of time, that single note separated into beats, and beats into melodies, and melodies into contained songs of their own.

It was power and grace and something else quite unimaginable.

It was also _infectious_.

The music spread outwards, out, out, out across the vast expanse, swallowing nothingness—consuming space whole—only to spit out _things_. Things of all shapes and sizes. Things that had mass. Things that had no mass. Things that weren't quite thing-like. They spread out, a torrential flood of particles and energy and half-dead kittens, and the parched universe drank it up like peanut-butter to jelly.

Finally! Things in a once thing-less universe.

But that was just the start of it.

The song made things _happen_. It was why there was mass and gravity and attraction. It let little girls fly, and made sure that things fell _down_ most of the time and it was why booze was eventually discovered by all sentient things. That was the sort of magic that the song had over the universe, all it took was a few beats and bars to make things _dance._

The song had started everything. The song made things happen. The song would play onwards, forever and forever. _But the song was not immutable._

There was one device in particular that was to blame.

Now, it is the general nature of the universe to keep inanimate objects dull and non-personified, but once in a while there are aberrations. Despite the overwhelming normalness of lifeless rocks and dust and burning gas, the universe was also inhabited by mechanical dolls with souls, and clay golems with hearts, and in this case: an instrument that had a mind of its own.

And even though this instrument was, on the surface, just another human plaything fashioned out of wood, metal, and ivory, _this_ harmonium was inherently special. While other harmoniums would wheeze through reeds as people stomped down on the pedals, this harmonium—_The Harmonium—_listened. It noticed every cord and cadence. It marked every note and ninth. The Harmonium listened to the very heartbeat of the universe—a faint fluttering of innumerable, infinitesimal, quivering strings—and in listening, to everything that was and is and could be, it understood.

It knew how to pick out a single melody from a polyphony. It knew a pebble from a mountain, a person from a sprawling city, a tiny planet from a dusty galaxy. It knew how things were connected to each other, and how things moved, and what moved them.

The Harmonium knew exactly what chords to strike.

And when that happened, when just the right person played in just the right way to nudge that endless song in a certain direction, things _changed_.

The Harmonium could, for example, conveniently misplace a valley between the dimensions of here and there. It could freeze lakes solid in the summer heat. It could make the sun go dark, and the moon turn red, and for reasons unknown, it could also make a rather burnt pot of coffee.

The right sort of person just had to play with feeling.

_With soul._

Over the centuries, the humans made elaborate rules and decadent rituals of conductor and player and protector, but all it really needed was a player that could _feel_. It needed someone that could taste the vibrations of the world at the tip of the tongue, someone who felt the ripples of time and consequence in his bones—The Harmonium needed someone, just someone, who wanted badly enough for the universe to change.

Someone. Just Someone. Anyone.

And it was so close.

It was there, in the rhythmic _plink-plink-plinking_ of cranes against concrete, there, in the furious beat of a faltering heart. It was in the false tune of the golden canary–and it was punctuated by the laugh of a boy whose only wish was for the world to burn.

The pattern drummed itself into the ivory and ebon keys, the backwash reverberating across its steel frame.

The Harmonium could hear it. The Harmonium could _feel_ it.

Of the thousand-thousand days the harmonium had been silent, it had never been so certain.

It had never been so sure.

The Harmonium would be played.

All it had to do was _wait_.

* * *

Ch 10

* * *

Nina had no sense of time down here. Every second was like an eternity, every minute another wasted lifespan.

And every time she thought about how impossibly stupid it all was, how impossibly implausible it was for a giant metal wolf to send the academy walls tumbling inward—making this dark hellish place—all that came out was a bitter laugh.

She didn't deserve this.

Nina didn't deserve it.

And as Nina huddled in her corner, trying to breathe the thick air she had breathed a million times before, she couldn't help but notice…

Everything.

Everything that she had tried to forget, and bury, and crush until it was nothing more than dust at her feet, came tumbling out in a flood of lurid, stupid thoughts. She hated it. Hated, hated it. She hated being alone with her thoughts.

At least, in the light there were things to distract her. There were thoughts of grudges that needed to be dealt with, of a particular foster father to please, the thrill of having power and wielding it. But here, in the dark, there was nothing, absolutely nothing to get her mind off of it.

And like all things, when she was left alone long enough, her mind drifted back to that day, when everything went horrifically wrong. It churned and played in her mind in horrifying detail, exaggerated in ways that only a memory can provide, of a blade that was not meant for—

It was a lot like trying not to think of pink elephants; the more she tried not to think about it the more stubbornly it ran unceasingly, unendingly, over and over and over again, because she couldn't make herself stop. It was impossible to stop thinking about it. It was impossible to stop feeling the betrayal, and the hurt, and how she just couldn't move fast enough—

"Hello?"

"Hello"

Oh yes, the darkness. It was getting to her. Now, _now_, she was beginning to hear voices.

"Nina," the voice called out so softly the words buzzed in her ears. "It's you isn't it?"

"I think I can hear you skulking through the walls." It continued. "If a person can sulk verbally, that is."

"Shut up," Nina replied. "You're not real."

"But, I'm not a figment of your imagination!" The voice replied.

"Then who are you?" Nina asked suspiciously.

"I'm a captain." The voice paused awkwardly. "Or was. I think the termination was implied, when The Duke kicked me back down."

"What?"

"I mean," The captain clarified, "I mean I got out of here before. I dug my way out halfway with my little-bitty shovel, under threat of death, before the girls finally found us. And you know, the Duke, the sir, the little snotty-bastard," The captain coughed, "—pardon my French, he gets angry now and again. So after all of that darkness, when I can finally get in some sun and air, he kicked me back down on impulse."

"Oh." Nina said disinterestedly. "So, you're stuck down here again?"

"That's correct ma'am," The captain replied. "I followed this side tunnel, hoping to find the space I was in before. Hoping, really, that they still left the ladder down here."

"And? " Nina asked.

"No such luck, miss. I'm stuck in quite a different space."

"You're not very helpful." Nina remarked.

"I do try."

"But on the bright side, I'm sure they're still looking for you. Also," The voice took on a cheery tone, "It also a good thing that there was something to cushion my fall. I really thought I was going to die."

"Good for you." Nina said gloomily.

"But, I'm afraid that I also have bad news," The captain replied.

"And what else could be worse?"

"That thing I fell on…"

"Yes?" Nina asked.

"I think I've fallen on top of your father."

"WHAT?"

* * *

Ch 10

* * *

"WHAT?!?" exclaimed Haruka belligerently.

Nao winced. Who knew a person could talk in all capital letters and still have room to use excessive punctuation?

"You heard me, the Gakuenchou is gone. Vanished. She went up in a plume of green sparkly bits."

"Green, sparkly bits?" Yukino raised an eyebrow.

"Gone. Finito. Extinguished." Nao sighed, "The final rite of an otome fallen in battle. That sort of gone."

"You can't be serious." Yukino said.

"Look. I wish I was, but I don't make this sort of shit up." Nao paused at the look that Yukino was giving her. "Well maybe I do sometimes for shits and giggles, but this not in this case." Nao coughed, "Not with that sort of consequence hanging in the air."

"You, you must have done something, you deviant!" Haruka pointed accusingly.

"Haruka-chan, Nao-san is at worst, a delinquent," Yukino corrected. "But, that just can't be true." Yukino added."

"No, it is true." Nao growled, "Just like I've been trying to tell you for the last five minutes."

"Let us examine this from another angle. The evidence… it just doesn't…" The president sighed, "Just take look at this and tell me what you see."

Yukino motioned with her hand, and an aid stealthily dropped off a bundle of grainy, monochrome photos at the desk.

Nao's mouth twitched, before muttering under her breath: "That damn bitch."

Nao pointed at the blasted evidence, "They're… This is crazy. Are these even _real_, Yukino?" Nao muttered.

"Oh, yes they are."

"The Gakuenchou is alive? But not only that, here they are, with the Aswad." Nao scowled, "And there again, there she is with the doctor and the Bewitching Amethyst, on that wolf again, blowing something to smithereens."

"That 'something'" Yukino quoted in the air, "is Cardiar, or was, to be more accurate."

"So the old bastards finally got the stuffing beat out of them?"

"Something, like that, yes. The diplomats have been quite busy."

"How did you get these pictures?" Nao asked.

"I have my means." Yukino said mysteriously.

"And what's that wolf?" Nao asked.

"Your guess is as good as mine." Yukino shrugged. "Anyone dependant on a contract with the Shinso should have been rendered powerless, as you've so found out. Perhaps, it's just a slave she found?"

"Even that sort of idiot wouldn't make a second pact like that." Nao stated.

"But here we are, with this sort of evidence," Yukino pointed to the ridiculous pictures spread across the desk, "And you're still telling me that the Gakuenchou vanished in a 'plume of green sparkly bits'?"

"Pretty much." Nao nodded.

Yukino sighed.

"Well the fact still stands, that the school has been liberated. Your Gakuenchou is attacking other cities unprovoked, and the duke is making ever more threatening moves."

"Moreover, that girl you brought in…"

"Tomoe." Nao filled in.

"Right, your Tomoe. It appears that the crystal on her ear is not from the Shinso, and yet still seems capable of fulfilling a contract between Otome and master. It is quite clear that the secrets of the Otome have been leaked."

"Shit." Nao cursed.

"Yes, that would sum up things nicely."

"And what," Nao asked, "Why are you looking at me like that?"

"I know you have resources."

Nao sighed. "Do you at least have some postage I can use?"

**

* * *

**Ch 10

* * *

Somewhere in the heart of city, where the night hummed to the sound of glowing fluorescent streetlights, there was Al.

Al bumped into a wall.

It was a soft wall, or rather; it was more like a wall that was uniformed, ten pounds overweight, and just happened to sport a funny little mustache.

Al poked it tentatively.

"Halt. There a curfew in effect," said the wall.

"Oh," said Al.

"_Oh,_ what?" Said the wall.

"Well, the funny thing about curfew is that—" Al paused to think of the right word, "—that it just sort of sneaks up on you. I mean one second, there's perfectly enough light, and then, all of a sudden, the sun goes down all stealthy-like. And then," Al accentuated, "_then_, the street lamps begin humming, and you get so lost in thought about where the sun went, that you bump into a fine officer such as yourself. And what I mean by all this," Al ventured to pat the man lightly on the shoulder, "—is that this is just a _big_ misunderstanding. Really, just a very big misunderstanding, because in reality, I am very, very, very close to home." Al put a friendly hand on the guards shoulder, "Very." Al finished.

The guard grunted. It was a short, harsh grunt that noted his acknowledgement that words were indeed being said, but that he was clearly ignoring them. It was punctuated by a _snap_ as the Guard undid the tiny strap that held his firearm secure to his belt.

"Very close." Al added, backing away cautiously.

The guard stared him down, straightening up his posture and puffing out his chest to full size, like a peacock displaying his feathers. The man drew his face unbearably close, challenging him, and bared his teeth in a predatory manner.

"You're not anywhere near home." He stated.

"How do you know that?"

"This is the industrial district."

"Oh." Al replied, "_H_ave you ever considered that I might live in one of those metal boxes?"

"_People_, don't live in storage boxes."

"Well, then perhaps, I am just slightly lost?" Al suggested.

The guard merely huffed at that. "As soon as pigs fly."

"I'm very sure they could, if you injected them with nanites." Al answered helpfully, "Also—Also, it also wouldn't hurt for you to find a mint. The garlic and the chicken and the--" Al paused, "…Onion, I think, or whatever it was you ate, it doesn't smell very good."

The guard exhaled deliberately into Al's face.

"A little like ass, really."

And a little after Al felt the words pass from his lips, it was one of those moments, where your body begins to pump so much adrenaline into the blood that time seems to slow down.

The guard's face contorted in a violent rage, before, quite suddenly, he lunged.

The man lunged with force. He lunged with momentum. He lunged with his hands drawn out with the promise to throttle and maim.

Indeed, the man lunged, but Al was just faster.

It was a natural reflex to twist out of the way, spinning past as if it was nothing at all, and it was even less of nothing to grab the guard's arm in mid-turn. Normally, Al would have had a spot of trouble flipping him, but thankfully the man had mass and momentum, and all it really required was a little redirection.

A little pull, and then a shove, and if Al moved, just so…

The guard went flying. There was a wet _thunking _sound of thick skull meeting brick wall, and a split-second after that, the bear of a man slumped down unceremoniously, looking as if he merely had too much to drink.

_Really, what was the world getting to?_

Al always thought that the city was a bit like one of those cheap music boxes—the plucky little ones that you wound up by hand and it would play "twinkle twinkle little star" or some other familiar tune in a warbling, off-tempo beat. Now normally, when all was well in the world, the city would _tink, tink, tink along_ just as you'd expect, with all the right _tinks_ and _warbles_ and _beats_ in place. The market place was sure to be lively. The ghetto was guaranteed to be as repugnant as ever. The mafia would trade their wares in dark alleyways, and the palace would still be regal as only a gaudy stone building can.

And, sure, some of the local students could blow away a city block or two if they got careless, but the girls tended to be mostly harmless.

Mostly.

But now, there was a madman at the crank, making the city and the people and even their little dogs spin so quick—everything _tinkling_ frenetically, of rough brail against brittle comb—that the whole thing was liable to fall to pieces.

The ghetto had disappeared over night, the school had been blown to pieces, and even the monarchy was nowhere to be found.

Which was, Al mused, pretty shitty indeed.

And when shitty things came along Al's way, there was only one correct answer to that.

Booze.

Al reached his destination, a dank little pub of the sort that nestles itself between one abandoned warehouse and another. This one in particular was a favorite of the boys. There was darts, and the stuff on tap did a good enough job to let you forget why everyone was so tense and ready to shoot first and ask questions later.

It was the sort of place where the shady element would feel right at home.

Well, mostly shady at any rate.

Al nodded toward the figures peppering the back of the pub.

"Hey Al."

"Yo," Al replied.

He took a good look at the group, but found his eyes looking at an unfamiliar face.

"Who's the new guy?" Al asked.

"The boss caught this one on her way out."

"Oh?" Al said in an interested voice.

"I haven't done anything." The teen protested.

"Nothing my butt." One of the men sniggered.

"Hmm, yes I do find that hard to believe," Al chucked. "The boss has a tendency to pick up the trash and futilely try and shine it up."

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" The boy protested.

"Just what I mean." Al raised his hand, "Anyway, keep him calm. He'll get a taste of just the sort of things we do soon enough." Al grinned deviously. "Now boys, what I've got here in my hands, are some real, genuine, marching orders from the boss."

"You sure there?"

"Oh yes, sure as sure can be. The lipstick is still fresh, even." Al waved the letter at the men.

"Don't tell me the boss is still writing with that shit?"

"You can't expect her to carry around a pen with her at all times can you?" Al asked.

They laughed.

"And it reads here, in bold, that we're going to take the city back." Al grinned happily. "We're going to take the city back, from that little bumbling duke."

"You're crazy!" The boy yelled, "There are real soldiers out there, with real stinking guns, and real bullets, ready to kill you _for real_."

"For real," The boy growled, when he saw the other men just laughing at him. "I don't want any part in this stupid, stupid idea. The city buckled not even an hour under conflict, and you're crazy enough to think to do it all by yourselves?"

"Oh, you poor sod! Why, you're even trembling in your little, fashionable sneakers."

The boy coughed violently and threw off the arm that had somehow wrapped around his neck in a friendly manner. "Who the hell follows orders from a little girl? Who slinks around trying to piss off the guards for fun? You people are all crazy. CRAZY!"

"I mean who, WHO, would even try sneaking PINK AND WHITE t-shirts and not expect to be caught by the guards?"

"WHO?"

Al just laughed.

"That just makes it more fun."

* * *

**A/N**: The Harmonium is sort of a strange instrument to choose, it would have been much more apt if they had a Theremin as the uber-galactic instrument of doom. Of course, then the ending would have been even sillier than the Sunrise train-wreck they gave us. Not that that doesn't mean that my story is a train wreck happening in slow motion either.


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11 – Reunions**

Something was not quite right.

It looked like her apartment, all right, but it was the little details that gave it away. It was how the door was left ajar. It was the way the carpet a mute fuzzy grey and the walls a strange pastel pink. It was the strange, unsettling, sinking feeling that made her step with hesitation—and when she pushed open the door with a protesting squeak, it was the way her dog looked, oh so, guiltily at her.

It took her brain a while to process the information.

Natsuki's eyebrow tic came back with a vengeance, her face twitching almost as painfully as the grumbling from her stomach.

Natsuki's mouth opened, and then closed, and then opened once more when the right words finally made their way to her brain.

"How could you Duran?" Natsuki accused. "How could _you_?"

She paused when the metal beast whined, turning away, with his ears drooping noticeably under the accusation.

"How could you eat all of this?" Natsuki continued, pointing to the empty wrappers of instant noodles, the mounds of empty Styrofoam cups, the discarded packaging that still depicted tantalizing and yummy food that Natsuki would never be able to eat. "How could you eat all of this, and leave me with not _one_ packet of Mayonnaise?"

"NOT A SINGLE ONE!"

Duran whimpered.

"Not only the ramen, but my secret stash," Natsuki paused. "M_y stash_," Natsuki repeated, exhaling angrily, "My secret, hidden, stash of mayonnaise packets that I steal from restaurants."

"Duran, how could you do such a thing?"­

Duran woofed something non-committal in response.

"I thought you liked me. You—You—You—" Natsuki trailed off, the words clearly failing her. Natsuki rubbed at her head in frustration. "AHHHH, You ate all of my _food_! _Mine_! _My food_!"

"BWAAHHH!" Natsuki blurted as she pointed at the empty cups.

"BWAHHHH!" Natsuki shouted as she pointed at the torn Mayonnaise packets.

"AAHHHH!" Natsuki screamed as she looked into her closet on a whim, "MY LINGERIE!"

She picked up one of the despicably empty Styrofoam cups and took aim.

"YOU."

She chucked the cup as hard as she could, the foam harmlessly rebounding off silver metal.

"STUPID."

Then came the package wrappers that flapped lazily in the wind, only to land some distance short of its designated target.

"DOG."

Duran, not able to take the abuse anymore, whimpered before finally vanishing in a plume of ice.

"That's right, you go back…" Natsuki paused, "—to—to—to wherever it is you go!" She finished lamely. To make her point across she threw the two last Styrofoam cups at empty air.

Natsuki huffed for while longer; the frustrations seeping in like seawater through sand. That hadn't helped at all. She almost wanted to cry.

"GOD DAMN IT, I WANT TO EAT."

Her stomach growled, complaining vehemently that she hadn't eaten since the dawn of time. The hunger was absolutely maddening. It was the sort of hunger that could only be answered by a number of tiny little greasy hamburgers or chicken that had been thoroughly deep fried.

_If only there was fast-food._

The landscape changed around her suddenly, to reveal a Cluck-in-a-Box in the distance, the bright primary colors tempting her with grease and fat, and the promise of being a very, very, happy girl.

Natsuki ran toward the fast-food, with her legs propelling her forward effortlessly, without fatigue or pain, almost as if she wasn't really running at all.

Natsuki smiled as it pulled closer. It would only be a matter of time before there was some tasty, dead, animal between her teeth.

And then…

There was a distinct _CLANG_. It was a very distinct_ CLANG_. Natsuki could only look on in horror as the sky parted, the clouds being pushed aside by a fiery-red meteor that whistled through the clouds. The thing was on a direct collision course with the Cluck-in-a-Box.

_No. No. No. No. Nononononono._

It sang. It sizzled. It fell.

CLANG, went the meteorite, as it hit solid ground, smashing the Cluck-in-a-Box into a million indistinct flaming pieces.

"Noooooooooooooo!" Natsuki screamed. "FUCK YOU METORITE!"

_CLANG, CLANG, CLANG _went the meteorite, as it exploded again for no good reason.

Natsuki frowned. Did exploding meteorites make that sort of noise?

_CLANG, _went absolutely nothing in particular.

_CLANG. CLANG. CLANG. CLANG._

_That's not right—_

And that was the exact moment when Natsuki woke up.

Her eyes opened wide, the logic and coherence flooding back into her brain, trying to make sense out of her anxiety-ridden dream. Natsuki tiredly rubbed the sand away from her eyes, and then looked up.

_Oh. So that was the banging noise._

It was the sort of noise that came from a ladle hitting an empty steel pot. The exact same sort of noise Mai would make when food was ready, and had to feed a crowd.

Natsuki blinked.

Oh right, it _was_ Mai.

Natsuki idly wondered if this was one of those dreams in a dream that made you think you were awake only to let you down and make you realize that, it was, in fact just another dream.

Natsuki blinked again.

And to her relief, Mai _was still_ there, smiling pleasantly at her with a ladle in hand.

"Natsuki, your food is ready."

"Is it Ramen?" Natsuki asked hopefully.

Mai just nodded at her, and brought back with her the one thing that was right in crazed, maid-infested, world: a bowl of ramen that was unmistakably hot and tasty, and made by Mai.

Natsuki took the bowl in her hands, the warmth of the soup drawing her in instantly. There were fishballs and noodles and seaweed, and just like always, there was a heaping of mayonnaise in it—gobs of the stuff that slowly dissolved in the soup, making the broth dark and murky.

It was exactly the way she liked it.

Natsuki was at a loss for words. She looked up at Mai like it was the best damn thing that anyone had ever gotten her, and when Mai offered her chopsticks, Natsuki snatched them up as quick as could be.

Natsuki dug in, a flurry of chopsticks and slurping and deliciousness, and it was…

Heavenly, just heavenly.

**

* * *

**

ch 11

* * *

The world seemed like a much better place once she had been fed. The grass was somehow greener, the air much sweeter, and for a moment there weren't any worries at all about where she was, or why she was here, or if any of it made any lick of sense. For example, there just happened to be a Mai in this world, but as far as this world went with its rules and internal consistency, why the hell not?

Natsuki gave a content little burp, and licked her front teeth absent-mindedly.

"All better now?" Mai asked in her sincere, motherly, tone that only she could pull off.

"Yes." Natsuki grunted, before adding, "Thank you."

Mai nodded, turning her attention to the odd group gathered at the bench table. It looked like the beginnings of a very bad joke.

So, a blond, two brunettes, and a redhead fall from the sky… Well, except for the fact that there wasn't a bar for them to walk into. And that she wasn't a bartender… and—

"Mai?"

"Oh sorry," Mai replied, "I was just thinking about something. But now that everyone's been properly fed, would someone kindly explain what's going on?"

Natsuki thought about that question for a moment. It was sort of like describing what exactly twinkies were made of, or how little girls could fly. There was a vague idea and a result that came out of it, but it also came with a lot of embarrassing, muddled, hand waving between the two.

"We could ask you the same." Shizuru replied, "You did go missing all those years ago, with not one single peep, or note, or sign to let your friends know that you were alive and well."

"Oh, _that_." Mai nervously tapped her hand to her forehead in half apology. "Well—"

"Mai's my servant!" Mikoto answered enthusiastically as if that was all the explanation needed, "Seconds! Mai!"

"_Oh_?" Shizuru eyed the Fire Stirring Ruby on Mai's ear.

"Well, something like that." Mai took the offered bowl from Mikoto's hand, and filled up the bowl with another generous helping.

"Seconds anyone?" Mai cheerfully questioned.

"I'm stuffed," Midori contently replied. "No, no, wait a second—" Midori puffed up, remembering exactly what she was angry about, "You're dodging the bullet again. If this valley is exactly what I think it is, then who are you and why are _YOU_ in it, and how did we get here? Don't try and brush aside my questions with some nonsense about the need to make more ramen—"

"Well it did look like Natsuki was dying." Mai interrupted. "With her eyes all glossy eyed, and limbs twitching on the ground…"

"Who _CARES_?" Midori cut back in.

"And you don't have to be so damn descriptive." Natsuki added.

"—But shame on you Shizuru!" Mai continued, pointed an accusing finger at Shizuru. "How could you not feed her? You know Natsuki has a blood sugar problem."

"Ah, yes, perhaps I am a little guilty of that." Shizuru said with a sly smile. "Why, almost half of Cardair would be still standing if I did."

"…blood sugar problem?" Midori muttered to herself.

"_Hey_! First of all, I didn't mean to! And second, what do you mean I have a blood sugar problem? I don't have a blood sugar problem!" Natsuki snapped, not willing to admit the obvious.

"You do." Mai replied, patting her gently on the shoulder. "It's nothing to be ashamed of."

"I don't."

"You do."

"I don't."

"You do."

"I _don't._"

"You do. As your former roommate, it's a certifiable fact."

"WE WERE NEVER ROOMMATES AND IT _ISN'T_!"

"Mmm hmm," Mai nodded knowingly, before opening a tin that had been resting on the table. "Here, have a cookie."

"I don't want a—MMPH! MMPH! MMPH!"

Natsuki began to protest about the cookie that was forcibly jammed into her mouth by flailing her arms, but she soon stopped.

The cookie was rather good after all.

Shizuru chuckled at the sight. "If I can say something in my defense, well, this Natsuki is—" Shizuru paused, "_different._" Shirzuru smiled. "But rest assured that it won't happen again, letting poor Natsuki starve again like that."

"Good, but, you know, there does seem something a bit odd about Natsuki." Mai nodded, "I can't quite put my finger on it though. I mean it's like she hasn't changed at all—"

Mai paused, with her hand on her chin before she clapped her hands together, "Oh! I know! It's the hair isn't it?"

Seeing Natsuki's puzzled look, Mai simply demonstrated with a lock of Natsuki's hair. "You look much more like your age if you put your hair up." Mai motioned, pushing the hair behind her ear. "Like this! See how much more mature you look?"

Natsuki looked at Mai in disbelief, and shouted with a mouthful of cookie. "Shuffh up!" went a spray of cookie bits. "Howff old do yuff think I am?"

Dodging the incoming cookie crumbs with practiced grace, Mai replied without missing a beat. "Well, just as old as me, silly."

Natsuki rolled her eyes, before swallowing the rest of the cookie in a mighty gulp. "Do I really look that old? For the last time, I'm seventeen! SE-VEN-TEEN!"

"That's mean. I'm not that _old_," Mai started to answer, "And it's not possible that you're only seventeen, well not unless…" Mai trailed off and started to count with her hands, "...how many moon phases was that again?" Mai muttered to herself.

The rest of Mai's counting was interrupted by a grey and white blur of Mikoto leaping over the table.

There was nary a clatter of dishes, as Mikoto landed slightly behind Natsuki, leaving a perceptible 'whoosh' of air in her wake. The whole motion was catlike—much more catlike than Natsuki ever remembered Mikoto ever being able to emulate.

Natsuki turned to face the girl, who was now staring at her far too intensely for her liking.

"Uh. Hi Mikoto." Natsuki said nervously.

"You're not supposed to be here," Mikoto pointed directly at Natsuki's face with her staff, "But, there's something familiar…"

The metal bits attached to the staff jingled, as Mikoto continued to point at her. When the bits lined up in just the right way, it looked like a cat's head. Strange, but come to think of it, why exactly was Mikoto wearing monk robes anyway?

"What?" Natsuki said dumbly.

"Something familiar." Mikoto murmured. Mikoto planted the staff into the ground, and started inching forward towards her, her head tilted as she sniffed the air. "Mmm! Something familiar. I can smell it!" Mikoto said happily.

Natsuki watched warily as the girl inched closer, invading much too far into her personal space.

"Uh, Mikoto?"

And then there was that sudden glint in her eyes—that same twinkle of mischief and predatory instinct of a cat waiting to pounce on a caged canary. Faster than she could blink, Natsuki found herself falling onto her stomach, the air rushing out of her lungs as she hit the ground, and herself helpless to push off a girl half her size.

"Oof," complained Natsuki, "Get off."

"Not till I see." Mikoto replied.

"See _what_?" Natsuki, barked.

"Ah Mikoto, not there!" Natsuki protested, as she failed to get the girl to stop. "Ah, ah ha ha ha ha! Stop—stop tickling me!"

Her protests went up another octave as Natsuki felt her skin going cold.

"I just want to see!" Mikoto nodded her head. "Mmm!"

"Holy crap! Don't lift up my shirt, you stupid monkey!" Natsuki shouted back at her, not liking at all that she couldn't see the stupid girl from this position. "What are you trying to—"

There was a sudden impossible movement.

…And then Natsuki felt very, very cold.

"Oh, so you do have a mark too!" Mikoto said excitedly.

Shizuru coughed violently at the table.

"YES, YES, I DO HAVE THAT MARK TOO!" Natsuki screamed, "BUT GIVE ME BACK MY SHIRT!"

Mikoto however plainly ignored Natsuki, and threw the shirt into Shizuru's face. The mark was a much more interesting at the moment.

"DON'T POKE IT EITHER!" Natsuki yelled. "Shizuru, give me my shirt back!"

"Shizuru!" Natsuki snapped.

Shizuru blinked, and then remembered to take the shirt off of her face. "Oh, yes, right." She paused. "Your shirt." Shizuru looked at her quizzically. "You want it back?"

_Oh dear god…_

"Mikoto." Mai said calmly. "Please get off of Natsuki, or you won't be able to have any more ramen."

Mikoto froze. "No ramen?"

"No."

"Not even a little?"

"Not one noodle." Mai said sternly.

"Oh. Okay." Mikoto said reluctantly as she got off of Natsuki, and sat back at the table. "But you saw it too right? That she has the same mark?" Mikoto said seriously.

"Yes, yes I did." Mai said warmly.

"We _all_ did," Midori said snarkily.

And with that weight finally lifted off of her shoulders, Natsuki blushed and pointed vigorously at her shirt that was currently failing to cover herself.

"Shizuru, _please_?"

"Only, because this too was also in the contract." Shziuru said with a grin, and then in a whisper as she handed the shirt to Natsuki, "Though, I'm sure the original circumstances were far more amusing."

Natsuki's blush intensified.

"Yohko, I think I'm almost getting used to this level of stupidity." Midori remarked.

Natsuki was starting to feel the same way. She hurriedly put her shirt back on and rubbed her temples in a vain attempt to calm herself down.

"I guess I should have expected that. Not a moment's peace in this crazy place." Natsuki grumbled. "Speaking of which, Mai, I know Mikoto is bound to be with you, but where's Tate? I don't think I can handle any more surprises today."

"Tate?" Mai questioned.

"Strawberry blond hair, about yay tall," Natsuki motioned the approximate height with her hands, "Has a goofy look on his face all the time."

Mai furrowed her brows thinking quite hard to try and place the name to a face.

"Tate Yuuichi. You know, the love of your life? That Tate."

"You know, it just doesn't ring a bell." Mai smiled. "I think I would remember important things like that." Mai paused and pursed her lips slightly. "But, strawberry- blond, you say?"

* * *

ch 11

* * *

It just so happened that the man with strawberry-blond hair was currently buried underneath tons of rubble—leaking some very vital strawberry juice onto the cold cement because a certain captain had unfortunately fallen on top of him.

To his credit, the wayward captain was trying to help Sergay. Landing on top of people always made him feel a twinge bit guilty, but try as he might to aid the man, the warm sticky substance continued to slip by his fingers as pressed very, very hard in a vain effort to stop it from leaking from his commander's skull.

"Miss Nina," The captain started again, "You haven't said anything in a while."

"Yes." Nina gritted the word between her teeth. "Because I'm _angry_."

"Oh, good. You're at the anger stage." The captain said amicably, "I don't think I liked those other two stages. All that shock and denial doesn't really suit a young girl."

"What are you babbling about now?" Nina spat. "The first thing I'm going to do when I get out of here is kill _you_."

"Right, just like you swore that I couldn't have possibly landed on top of your father, and that I'm a big fatty fat liar who deserves to have his tongue ripped out and his liver eaten by crows."

"I don't see how this changes my plans on killing you." Nina said as a matter-of-fact.

"First off, it was an accident, and I don't think I particularly like this whole death-threats-are-us stage either." The captain replied. "Your father is still alive you know."

"No thanks to you—" Nina interrupted.

"But _alive_." The captain repeated.

"Just alive isn't good enough." Nina replied, "I want to hear his voice. I want to see him. I want him _here_. Not stuck behind a wall of concrete and steel."

"He'll be alright." The captain reassured.

"If he's _alright_," Nina stressed, "If he'll _be_ alright, then why won't he wake up?"

* * *

ch 11

* * *

Everything was stillness and silence.

Immaterial and intangible, Sergay floated in the empty expanse, drifting without awareness for a heartbeat, an eon, an eternity of time—

Until..,.

His body was enveloped by a huff of warm, moist air. It was not an unpleasant sensation, but when he took a breath of it in… well… it could only be described as—

Dog's Breath.

Sergay snapped his eyes open to find sharp white canines inches from his throat. Absurd and impossible as it was, his body couldn't help but quiver uncontrollably when the primal bits of his brain noticed that the beast's maw could have popped his head like a grape.

It was a wolf. Or rather it was a freakishly huge wolf, with complementary freakishly large razor-sharp teeth.

"So, _you're_ awake."

The low rumbling, words washed over him with such intensity that Sergay didn't even notice that the wolf didn't have to move its lips to speak.

"Uh, you're not going to eat me are you?" Sergay asked nervously.

"There was the temptation." The wolf's eyes swirled with mischief. "It is in my nature, after all."

"Does that mean that you won't eat me?"

"Do you want me to eat you?" The wolf said in all seriousness.

Segay laughed nervously, "No."

"Then I won't." The wolf grinned threateningly. "As much as I want to little human, I will hold back the urge, because there are things that need discussing."

"Things?" Sergay repeated slowly.

"Yes, _things_ concerning you." The wolf repeated. "You need to return."

"Return where?" Sergay asked, "And where am I? Why am I here?"

"Why? Why? Why? Such silly questions." The wolf's golden eyes pierced into him, "I am talking to you because, little as you are, there are threads which depend on you—souls who have foolishly bound themselves too tightly to you. You have always been a pillar, Sergay Wang, and it is far too soon for you to be _expired_."

"Oh."

"And that is why you must _leave_." The wolf stood impressively tall with his hackles raised. "_Now._"

"Oh." Sergay replied again, nervously, "So, um I'll be going then."

Sergay paused.

"Where exactly am I supposed to go?" Sergay asked.

The wolf huffed a sigh that could have blown Sergay's hair straight.

"Follow the path, little human." The wolf motioned to the lines of crimson that streaked the darkness, "And do not ever leave it, lest you be tempted by the light."

* * *

ch 11

* * *

Sergay followed the streaks of crimson, the unnatural cracks that shattered the monotonous darkness. In this unreal place, it almost seemed _too real_.

Sergay wondered for a moment what it was, but didn't like the ideas his mind came up with, Sergay followed the path intently, walking, walking, walking, until the crimson threads disappeared into the bleak space—and then—

_Everything hurt._

"Oh he's coming around!" Someone's voice boomed in his eardrum, in a rather obnoxious way. "Miss Nina, now will you reconsider the whole killing me bit. I think I have enough trouble with the Duke being violently annoyed at me."

_What was going on? Where was he? Why was it still dark?_

"Father?" said a muffled voice. "Father, can you hear me?"

"Hello, Nina." Sergay winced out a response. "I think I've returned."

* * *

**A/N: **This chapter is slightly rough and chapter 10 still needs reworking, but it's better than nothing. It's also probably a bad sign that on more than one occasion, I attempted to put semicolons at the end of a line instead of a period. Ah, silly muscle memory from coding…


End file.
